


Wandering Souls

by JaneAudron



Category: XCOM (Video Games) & Related Fandoms
Genre: Aliens, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blood, Blood and Gore, Canon-Typical Violence, Flashbacks, Gen, Gore, Hurt/Comfort, Minor Character Death, Original/New Factions, Possible Romance, Swearing, Torture, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:00:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 46,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24185539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaneAudron/pseuds/JaneAudron
Summary: Zhang found himself among a group of strange people, unfortunate souls experimented on by their new alien overlords. He still wondered how they even escaped the hellish facility but he was thankful he was no longer being tortured.He wondered how many years had past since his imprisonment, since his role as a mole, an informant, was blown. He had a lot of time to ponder about that as his body had to heal from years of torture. He would be stuck with this group for awhile as they wandered about.He didn't mind that. Perhaps, when he was better, he could get another resistance cell started. His fighting spirit wasn't dead.
Kudos: 9





	1. Stitches

**Author's Note:**

> Had to scratch an itch. Something to go along side with my main fic. In a way a bit spoilers for things that will happen later on in that fic.  
> Also rating is always in flux with me. May go to mature later on.

A searing pain made his eyes open in an instant, pulling him from him from the deepest parts of his mind. His fingers dug into the soft earth, gripping tightly as his knuckles went white.“Aaaah.”The pain wouldn’t let up.

“Sorry about… that.” A slow, stilted voice spoke. “Don’t have much… too numb the pain.”

The pain increased for a moment, several sharp pin pricks danced across his abdomen. He closed his eyes for a moment, taking deep breaths to work through the pain. As it subsided, he let out a sigh. His death grip on the soil slowly relaxed.

“Just a few… more stitches.”

His eyes opened and drifted over to where the voice came from. Over him was a man. He wasn’t sure if his eyes were playing tricks on him, but was their skin gray? And was that a mane of white-furred scales around their neck? He let a hiss. The pin pricks were back, along with the feeling of something palpitating his stomach. Something soft, yet scaled danced their fingers along a gash; pausing so often to study the severity of the wound.

“Amazed you're still alive… mister.” The voice continued to speak. “Your wounds… your age… looks so deceiving.” He mumbled, studying the white-haired man. “You lost a lot of blood… Red blood but with a hint of Meld.” A hiss slipped past their lips, but not one of irritation. “Did they experiment on you like us?”

“No…” He finally spoke though his voice was a bit slurred. He closed his eyes again. He tried to remember. “Maybe…Can’t remember.” Only bits and pieces came forth. But he remembered who the person currently patching him up. Helios was his name. One of the people he escaped with from that facility. One of many unfortunate souls experimented on in that diabolical place. But for himself, they tortured him. “Wait no… I was tortured.” He could remember that well.

“You may be suffering from a bit of…. delirium.” Helios said. “You lost a lot of blood… but you have modifications.” His scaled hand traced a scared area on the man’s side. A nail grazing past metallic in the middle of the area. “Ports… I’ve seen others on your body… but they are different than ours.”

“How much longer?” He looked back at Helios. He looked so young, even behind all the mutations.

“Hmm?”

“My wounds.”

“Oh! _Sorry._ ” Helios sheepishly replied. “Last one… the laceration from your side to your lower abdomen.” The pin pricks started back up. “Very lucky the wall of muscle… did not tear… your intestines would have been every…where.”

“ _Lucky_ indeed.” He scoffed.

Helios continued to patch the man up. Making little notes and observations with each stitch. Making theories about the man’s age; he could tell he was well past middle age but somehow looked younger. That perked his curiosity. He also came up with his own theories about the ports on the man’s body, even if the man never replied back. Repeating several observations several times. Seemed like he enjoyed talking out his thoughts. _A lot._

“Last stitch…” He tugged tightly on the thread. The man hissed, but his torment was nearly over. “There…. There’s still some blood…but nothing worrisome.”

The man’s hand drifted up to the closed wound. His fingers studying the work. “Surgical.” He commented. He slowly raised himself up, taking in several pained breaths as he felt tugs on several stitches.

“Easy! Easy!” Helios helped the man up. He didn’t want all his hard work undone. “It’ll be awhile before I can… bandage anything… have to find those… supplies.”

The man let out a sigh of relief once he was up. He looked down, astonished by how badly his chest was torn up. He didn’t want to imagine what his back looked like or the rest of his body. He had old scars, but now his body truly looked like a battlefield. His hands carefully studied each wound, each stitch. All closed with precision. Reminded him of the Triad surgeons. “ _Surgical_.” He commented again. He looked at savior. “Thank you…. Helios was it?”

He nodded, a slight tinkling noise could be heard from that scaled mane. “Yes.”

“Thank you Helios.” He repeated once more with a smile.

He turned away from him, scratching the back of his head. “It was nothing.” It wasn’t hard to tell he was flustered.

“No need to be embarrassed.” The man chuckled. “I would be dead without your skill.”

“Mm…” He simply nodded.

The man looked around, examining his surroundings. They were somewhere in the forest. Amber leaves glistened under the rays of the sun. It must have been fall. He continued to look around, noticed the ruined surroundings. Seems they found some rundown outpost. It was better than nothing. A little shield from the eliminates. From those hunting them. _ADVENT_. He noticed the others all around. _Hybrids_. Human and alien from what he could figure. They were nursing their wounds, helping each other, standing guard. Others similar to Helios in the sense of being mutated like him. Each of them was unique. He wondered if he was the only human amongst the group. Well, the _most_ human looking one. He had a touch of alien in him. Just a _touch_.

“I never did quite catch… your name when the chaos… died down.” Helios somewhat muttered. “Mister?” He looked at him.

The man looked at him, his golden brown eyes carefully studying him carefully. Would it hurt for him to know? “Call me… Chilong.” He could know that much. His old callsign.

“Mr. Chilong?” Helios mused. Rubbing his chin for a moment as his eyes wandered. “Means… Hornless Dragon.”

He nodded, then froze. “How did you?” He shouldn’t know that.

Helios tapped the side of his head. “I’m… a bit of a… living computer.” He drummed his fingers together. “What they did to me…. Well, one of the… many things… _they_ did.”

“Ah.” Explained his many pauses. “I see their cruelty knows no bounds.” His heart went out to the young lad and every one else.

“It sadly doesn’t.” Helios shook his head.

A grumble slipped from Chilong’s lips as he closed his eyes and let his mind wander. _Them_. Their alien invaders now overlords. He wondered how long they had him imprisoned when his cover was blown. How long did they torture him?How many years had passed? A part of him was afraid to find out.

His fingers moved along the stitches as his mind continued to wander. Some wounds he could remember from specific torture sessions. The brutal methods they enforced. Hooks they would embed deep into his flesh. Stringing from the ceiling like some sort of animal ready to be butchered. All to make him talk. To reveal who he was funneling information too. But he did not break. He would not betray the Resistance even if XCOM was gone.

In hindsight, he was thankful for volunteering for the Gene Mod project when he caught wind of Dr. Vahlen pitching it to the Commander. He felt like he needed an edge over the younger recruits. Something to help him keep up with them. And it did. He also knew he was quite thankful for another development….just before the fall of XCOM.

He opened his eyes and looked at his free hand. He fluttered his fingers for a moment and the next, purple psionic energy jumped between his fingertips. “ _If_ Dr. Vahlen never noticed my potential. If _I_ had volunteered _four weeks_ later…” He thought as he watched the energy fade. He had his psionics to thank for reinforcing his mind. Mental locks and barriers he refined over the years to keep himself hidden. His torturers could never get past those barriers, no matter how hard they tried.

His ears twitched, picking up on the sound of leaves rustling above and something chittering. Curiosity drawing him, he looked upward. “Hm..” He saw something. A black, smokey figure. But was high up in the tree line. He raised his hand to shield his eyes from the sun, to let his eyes focus. It only took a few seconds for his eyes to focus, to zoom in on the figure. How he loved that one mod. Like an in-built scope.

As his eyes locked onto the figure, his eyes went wide at the side. “What the–”

High in the tree line, perched in a nest of branches, was a figure, their upper body cloaked in smoke that would wick away from their body. But the strangest thing about them was their head. From their silhouette alone, it looked like the head of a jackal. Piercing white eyes looked back at him. Looked like they had noticed him.

“Hm…” He swallowed hard. He could feel a lump form in his throat. He wondered if he was hallucinating. Something about this figure made him nervous, but he felt like he had seen it before.

“Hm?” Helios heard his mumbles. He noticed him looking up and did likewise. “Oh, it’s Jackal.”

“You know this… person?” He had another word he would have used but didn’t want to anger whatever it was. As soon of Helios took notice of them the figure moved. “ _Secretive_.”

“You don’t remember? Then again… blood loss.” Helios shrugged. “She’s one of the reasons why we are…free. Initiated the breakout… after much planning.”

Chilong closed his eyes and searched his mind for those memories. Most of the breakout was still a blur to him. He was half alive at the time. “I don’t think I–wait.” He remembered something.

In the middle of another torture session. Strung from the ceiling with hooks embedded in his back as usual. He remembered red lights flooding the room as the deafening alarms went off. He remembered a black smoke entering the room and something tearing the hinges off of the door. He had faint memories of the torture technician getting their throat torn out and head crushed like a tomato. Then icy hands, clawed hands, checking the worst of his wounds before breaking his restraints and helping him down. He remembered her face. _Jackal’s_ face. An undulating mass of smoke with the shape of a jackal for a head. He remembered piercing white eyes all too well as they guided him out of the room, cloaking him, in that same smoke it was made of, to protect him and his fragile state.

“No, I remember her now.” He looked at Helios. “She broke me out of my cell.”

“Yes, she carried you out…you were barely alive.” Helios tapped his lip. “Even in your… state… you helped in the fight with your… _psionics_.” There was a twinkle in his eye.

“I don’t remember any of that.” There was a large gap in his memory. Had he really used his psionics so freely? That worried him. “It’s all still a blur.”

“You must have been running off of… instincts.” Helios continued to tap his lip. “You used your psionics with such…finesse…precision and…brutality. Such… _rage_.”

“I…did?” He didn’t like that. Now he wondered what the others thought of him.

“Yes. Like the rest of us… there is more to you than meets… the eye.” Helios tilted his head. “You seem to have some sort of… tactical training… of some sort.”

“What do you mean by that?” He did his best to play dumb.

“You managed to override the minds of some…ADVENT and have them fight for us…squad tactics to keep the escape in our favor.”

“Perhaps I just worked from what I could glean from their minds?”

“A possibility.” Helios trailed off as his eyes wandered. “That’s… a possibility, but,” he paused looking over to left, “whatever you did… you overloaded their chips… so they are free… like us.”

Chilong looked over to where he was looked at and was surprised by the sight. ADVENT soldiers. But something was different. Their helmets were off, revealing their hybrid nature underneath. And they were aiding the wounded. Was he the cause of their change?

“Their chips?” His hand drifted up to the back of his neck, rubbing a small scar at the base of his neck. The mere mention of that word made it ache.

“Yes.” Helios nodded. “No more voices… in their heads. No more Elders.”

“Interesting.”

“You had one too… didn’t you?” Those curious eyes looked back at him. Noticing where his hand was.

“Yes.” He answered. He figured Helios was the perceptive sort. He had probably seen the scar while treating him. No sense in hiding that fact. “Disabled and long since removed.”

“Done by yourself?”

“Disabled. A mixture of me and,” he paused for a moment, “ _dissenters_ to the new world order.”

“Ah… a mole.” Helios assumed. “Such a risk to take.”

He chuckled. “It worked for several years until my cover was blown. That’s when it was _removed_.”

“Mm hmm.” Helios nodded. “Sold out by someone… who lost faith in freedom?”

“Most likely.” He shook his head. He clinched his fist. He still wondered who sold him out. “Still surprised they did not just kill me that day.”

“They wanted answers… they always want answers.” Helios muttered. “And then your… _psionics_ … harvest your DNA for that as they… search for answers on all your contacts.”

He nodded at his words. “The most probable reason.”By far the most likely reason why they kept him around for so long.

“Just… a theory. Me… musing.” Helios rambled.

Chilong nodded and chuckled. He could tell the man liked to talk and talk a _lot_. He would have to be careful with the living computer. He felt like he had revealed too much already. He would have to be careful with any future questions Helios would ask. He was still unsure if he could trust anyone. He felt the feeling may have been mutual.

“Nngh…” Several pains pierced his body. His vision beginning to falter, blurring like mad. His head felt light. The world started to spin. Darkness encroached at the corners.

“Mr. Chilong?” Helios heard the grunt. “Mr. Chilong!” He noticed his paling complexion. He barely got to him and keep him from collapsing. He gently lowered him to the ground and looked over his wounds. No stitches had reopened. “Blood loss… is getting to him.”

He rapidly blinked his eyes several times, but with each blink they grew heavier. His body felt heavier as pain surged through it. “Blood loss. Adrenaline passing away.” He muttered. He did wonder how long he had been awake since their escape. So many gaps in his memory.

“Hey! Ty!” Helios called out. “Need a hand here!”

He didn’t notice another figure, a large and imposing figure, come over as he tried to fight his body from drifting off.

“Let’s get him inside… should be a bed open… he needs rest… lots of rest.” Helios said. “Need to make a… blood substitute…or transfusion if someone is… compatible.”

“Tell me how to pick him up.” Cracking their knuckles, Ty spoke with a gargled voice.

With instructions from Helios, Ty carefully picked Chilong up and started to take him to the nearest dilapidated building.

He barely noticed the new set of scaly hands had picked him up as he continued to drift towards the embrace of darkness. As his eyes grew heavier, he noticed a familiar figure return to his sight. That _Jackal_. The ethereal being watched from her perch in the thicket of trees. But something was different. “Strange…” There was a certain haze around her and it wasn’t that smoke. It moved ever so slightly. Then he noticed something else. The haze seemed to extend beyond her. It encompassed their encampment.“ _Strange_ …” One last mutter before he finally embraced the darkness. He needed rest.

He was going to be out of commission for a while. Several days in fact as he had developed a fever shortly after passing out. But his body was stubborn and wasn’t going to let him die. Not yet. He still had a fighting spirit. He still had work that needed to be done.


	2. Fever Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Zhang's body tries to recover, his mind starts to wander towards the past.

Chilong was in and out of consciousness for several days as his body rested and tried to fight off the fever. Helios did his best to double check all wounds and stitches. Nothing had come undone. Nothing looked to be infected.

The group eventually packed up and started moving when they caught wind of an ADVENT search party was heading their way. They hoped to avoid them and find some place with some supplies they could scavenge.

As he continued to drift, Chilong started dreaming. Dreaming of his old life. The Triad. He had known that for a majority of his life. Then he started dreaming of the day his old life ending and a new one began. To fight a common enemy. XCOM. What a risk he took contacting them. Sometimes he wondered if they had won the war, what would his life been afterwards. Would they have granted him amnesty? Or would they have handed him over to the authorities in his home country? He remembered the Commander wasn’t too fond of him at first. He didn’t blame her. He wasa _criminal_. But somehow he managed to gain her trust. Before everything went to hell.

Still, he was thankful for the brief time he was with XCOM. He knew he wouldn’t be alive at the moment if it wasn’t for them and the discovered they made.

His mind drifted off to another memory. A few memories dealing with his gene mods.

——————————————————

The Commander’s fingers were drumming with ferocity against her desk. Her gaze focused on the older man sitting opposite from her. A new and unusual recruit from two months ago. She still wondering if she made the right choice by accepting the former Triad member into XCOM. Then again, the Council forced the decision upon her.

The artifact and information he gave them was of great help but she didn’t fully trust him yet. Hell, he was somehow well versed with heavy weaponry and explosives; she still questioned that greatly. Zhang had been pulling his weight, showing he was just as capable as the younger recruits when deployed. But she couldn’t shake a hint of doubt in her mind.

“Are you sure you want to volunteer for this process Zhang?” She didn’t take her eyes off of him. “I know you are still trying to prove your _loyalty_ but you don’t have to do this.”

“Perhaps…” He paused, carefully searching for his words. He would never admit it to anyone, but the Commander had piercing eyes. Just as intimidating as his former bosses. It made him a tad nervous. “Perhaps I am still trying to prove my _loyalty_ Commander, but I believe these ‘genetic modifications’ can help me keep up with the younger recruits.”

She let out a sigh, closing her eyes, and pinching the bridge of her nose. “ _Zhang_.” A hint of annoyance peaked through. “First of all, you do not have to prove anything. You put your life on the line just by stealing that artifact and contacting us.” She took in a sharp breath. She opened her eyes and cast a glance to the side. Dr. Vahlen was off to the side, engrossed with her tablet. She had called the doctor up to be a voice of reason. “Second, this procedure could be dangerous, _especially_ dangerous to you due to your _age_.”

“My _age_?” He scoffed.

“Actually Commander Jynn,” Vahlen interjected, “As long as we take the all necessary precautions, I see his age not being a factor.” As usual, Dr. Vahlen’s eyes were beaming with excitement. That always worried the Commander.

“For fuc–” The Commander caught her tongue. She sunk back in her chair, cursing something under her breath in both Creole and Japanese for a second. Maybe she should have called Dr. Shen as well. “Thank you for your input doctor.” She spoke through gritted teeth. “But are you sure?”

“Absolutely positive.” She nodded.

The doctor came over, tapping on her tablet for a moment before passing it onto the Commander. “The procedure will be fairly simple after we make all preparations.”

“Continue.” The Commander took the tablet and read.

“As the Meld is administered to the volunteers system, they will be suspended inside these canisters to allow for augmentation to be a gradual process. Less trauma to the body.”

“How long will the volunteers before out for?”

“ Depending on the amount of modifications,” Vahlen looked up, “about a few days to two weeks.”

The Commander was silent as she finished ready and studying the images. She handed Vahlen back her tablet. She looked back at Zhang. The man was stoic as always. A hard read for her. But she could pick up a hint of determination in his eyes.She shook her head.

“You sure you want to do this Zhang?”

“Absolutely positive Commander.” He nodded.

She let out an annoyed sigh, taking a moment to rub her temples. She mumbled and grumbled. “ _Fine._ ” She wondered if she would regret her decision later. “I grant you permission to volunteer for the process. _Don’t make me regret it_.”

“Thank you Commander.” Zhang humbly nodded. “I will not.”

“I’ll go ahead and get everything prepared for the procedure.” Vahlen pipped up. “Come down to the Genetics Lab in three hours, Zhang.”

“Yes, doctor.” He nodded.

“I want constant updates on the procedure doctor,” the Commander shifted her gaze to her, “ _of all the volunteers_.”

“I will keep you posted.” Vahlen smiled. Though the gleam in her eye worried the Commander.

“All right,” she shook her head, “you two are dismissed.”

They swiftly nodded and made their leave.

“With how adamant you were with volunteering,” Vahlen spoke as soon as they were outside the office, “I have a feeling you already know what modifications you would like.”

The white-haired man chuckled. “Perceptive.” He nodded. “I have… _ideas_.”

Vahlen smiled enthusiastically. “Well, let us discuss these ideas, to make the preparations more accurate for you.”

He chuckled. “Let us.”

——————————————————————

All was a dark, murky haze as his mind wandered. Everything felt weightless.

“All right Zhang, time for some fresh air.”

A burst of fresh air and a recognizable female voice caused him to stir. He could feel himself moving. Shifting with the waves. No. It was the canister that was moving, not him.

“Your time in the tank is up.”

He could feel the canister stopped and the liquid slowly recede. His eyes fluttered open only for him to quickly close them due to the bright lights. Another burst of fresh air roused him again before the mask on his face finally receded as the canister finally opened. He gasped for air as he collapsed to his knees.

“You may be a little woozy as you come too.”

He scoffed at that. The world felt like it was spinning to him. He took in several breaths as he tried to get his bearings. “Mm…” He mumbled. So many unfamiliar sensations were going through his body. As his eyes fluttered once more he noticed those around him. The genetics team. He could feel them undoing the cords still tethering him to that pod.

“How are you feeling?”

That familiar female voice rang in his head. His eyes quickly focused on the source of the voice. Something was off. Why did he only see her face? How close was she? She didn’t feel that near. “Strange…Dr. Vahlen.” He shook his head, rubbing his eyes. He looked at her again, this time she looked to be the appropriate distance from him. Just a few feet away. _Hyper Reactive Pupils._ He remembered that was one of the mods he asked for.

She chuckled. Ticking off something on her tablet. “That is to be expected.”

He let out a grunt as he got back to his feet. For a moment he hissed as he felt his leg muscles intensely contract for a moment before relaxing. He shook his legs a few times to get used to that sensation. His legs felt young again.

“The discomfort in your legs would be from the new and reworked muscle fibers.”

“Right that modification.” He nodded as he observed the scientists still working on him. “Nngh…” He shuddered as a headache came on. His blood was pumping.

“Your body is still adjusting to your additional adrenaline levels amongst other things.” She said. “It will all come to pass.”

“I couldn’t tell.” He replied dryly.

A few more questions, checks and scans, and waiting for adjustments. They eventually gave Zhang an all clear and quickly ushered off to the affectionately named, “Hazard Course”,for some quick testing.

———

“Whoa!” A gasp of half fear and excitement escaped from his lips. Air rushing through his hair, his heart was pumping as he soared through the air. “Mph!” He grunted as his fingers quickly grabbed onto the rocky ledge. He quickly pulled himself up before looking back. “Wow.” The ground seemed so far away.

“That was about 8 meters Zhang.” One of the scientists monitoring him pipped up on the intercom.

“Really!?” Had he really jumped that high? In a single bound? He started to laugh, nearly doubling over. “8 meters?” To be young and spry again.

“That’s how high that cliff face is.” They said.

“Unbelievable.” He managed to recompose himself. He looked down at his legs, he could still feel the muscles twitching. He grinned. What else could his new legs do?

He got back on his feet, tapping his soles against the ground. How would landing fair?

“Alright let’s test out — ZHA–ZHANG!” The scientist

Not even waiting for the go ahead, he stepped off the cliff. Another rush of excitement coursed through his body as he neared the ground. The moment he landed with a solid thud, but he stuck the landed like frog. “Amazing.” He slowly straightened himself back up.

“Well, that’s good to see it works both ways but WAIT for orders!” The one scientist came marching over.

The white-haired man laughed darkly. “ _Sorry_.” He grinned. “Just a tad excited.”

Their brow twitched. They opened their mouth only to shut it. They sighed. He was such a strange man to them. “Feeling like a kid again?”

“Perhaps.”

“Don’t let if get to your head.” They shook their head but chuckled. “All gene modifications are looking good for you, Zhang.” They looked down at their tablet. “Firing accuracy sharpened, speed and agility increased, the pheromone discharge and adrenaline spike are working as intended.”

“So?”

“Your back in active duty, though we due suggest you keep training your body to get used to your new skills as quickly as possible.”

He smiled at that. His eyes drifted up, looking back up at that cliff. “You don’t have to worry about me not training.”

With a quick crouch, Zhang was off in the air again and this time he made it to the top of the cliff and then sets his sights on higher heights.

“Oh, I think we created _another_ monster.” They sighed.

“Just like Jessie.” Another scientist laughed on the intercom. “Eager as a jackrabbit.”

“Well, at least he has sense enough not to _prank_ the Commander like Jessie.” They yelled back. “What the hell was he thinking anyway?”

——————————————————————

“I’m pinned down over here!” Nightwolf found herself under a barrage of laser fire. She had taken up the task to distract this new unit, a hulking mechanical nightmare, from a group of civilians that had taken shelter in the nearby police station. “Could use just a _tiny_ bit of help.” Her planned worked, but she was starting to regret it. One solid blast from her Scatter Laser took out a cluster of its eyes. It had been after her blood ever since.

The aliens had been ramping up their terror strikes ever since XCOM had brought down their battleship over China. They had expected some form of retaliation, but nothing to this degree. Fielding such a new and dangerous weapon. The Commander feared what else they may have been holding back. She just knew they were going to try to stretch XCOM thin until they reached their breaking point.

“Shepard.” The Commander said curtly.

“Busy patching up Trace!” A rough, disgruntled voice replied. “That _thing_ nearly fucking disintegrated him. If the column didn’t take the brunt of that blas–”

“Got it. Get him back on his feet or out with the rest of the civvies.” She ordered.

“Understood Commander.”

The Commander’s eyes focused on the other video feeds. The other squad members were busy clearing out threats in the police station to get the civilians out. It was looking like Nightwolf would be on her own.

“Dammit.” She mumbled under her breath. “Nightwolf find the best cover you can fo–”

“Give me a moment,” Zhang replied calmly as he mowed down a rather stubborn Muton, “I’ll be there to provide some assistance.”

“Chilong you are the furthest from the Nightwolf’s position.” She was a bit peeved for being interrupted. Was he still trying to prove something to her?

“Perhaps I am Commander.” He let out a heavy breath. His breath visible and oddly orange. “But I believe _we_ can get to her swiftly. Breaker and I have taken care of all threats in the parking lot.”

She double checked their feed. The parking lot was now clear. “Hmm.” She needed a moment to think.

“This thing has freaking bombs!? Hell! Hell! _Hell_!”

An exclamation from Nightwolf quickly drew her from her thoughts. She quickly focused on Nightwolf’s feed. She caught the shaky cam of the shotgunner diving through a window A second later, a torrent of bombs came raining down on her previous position. The explosions rocked the earth, kicking up and obliterating chunks of cement. Just for a second when she thought she was safe, the mechanical nightmare came crashing through the wall.

“FUCK!” That thing really hated her.

It was a game of cat and mouse.

“That thing will not let up.” Central commented as he watched the chaos unfold.

The Commander shook her head. She was glad Nightwolf had managed to lure that thing away from the police station with the amount of destruction it was unleashing. There was already a substantial loss of civilian life. If she wasn’t distracting it, there would have been no one left to save.

“Commander?” Zhang spoke up. He was already on the move towards the station. “Orders?”

“Nightwolf is northwest of your position.” She started issuing orders. “The apartment building opposite from the police station. Breaker accompany him.”

“Understood.” He nodded.

“You got it, Commander.” Breaker said. “Hope that prototype can put a dent in that machine. Shredded those Mutons like paper.”

He glanced down at the weapon in his hands. It was different from the heavy laser he had grown accustomed to. The weapons division needed someone to test out a bit of a crude prototype of a modified heavy plasma they managed to get from an Elite Muton. “Let’s hope it does.” And he was the lucky volunteer.

As he reached the back entrance to the station, he paused for a moment. Though the gunfire had cut down tremendously, he could still hear a few aliens scrambling around and his fellow squad mates hunting them down. Last thing he needed was to get shot in the back entering such a chaotic place. He wasn’t sure why at first, but he looked up. He could feel the muscles in his leg twitch and contract. A grin crept across his face.

“Chi, we can cut throu– Hey!”

One moment he was next to Breaker, the next moment he was soaring through the air at least two stories high.

“Geez.” She gawked.

He landed on the roof with a solid thud. “Whoa…” He barely stuck the landing but kept himself from toppling over. He was still adjusting to his new modifications. He had only had a few days to test his new abilities. “Exhilarating.” But he loved it.

“I _need_ to get that augment.” Breaker mumbled under her breath. She was glad she had a grappling hook. A moment later she joined him on the roof. “Next time tell me what you’re planning.”

“Sorry,” he chuckled, “spur of the moment.”

“Riiiight old man.” She rolled her eyes.

He smirked. He liked her attitude. “Let’s keep moving.”

As they reached the other side of the roof, they got a glimpse of the chaos the mechanized unit had caused.

“Taxes ain’t gonna fix that road.” Breaker quipped.

The sight of a bright laser erupting from the side of the building across the street caught their attention. Thunderous stomps followed.

“ _FUCK!_ ” Nightwolf’s voice screeched across the comms.

“Tell us what’s going on in there Nightwolf.” Breaker got her rifle set up.

“Playing cat and mouse with this damn thing!”

“Nightwolf.” Zhang lowered his plasma and reached for his launcher. “See if you can lure that thing outside.”

“Are you serious!? I’m barely dodging its hellfire right now!”

“Let’s just say there are some fireworks waiting for it.”

“… I’ll figure out somethi–SHIT!”

The next moment Nightwolf was diving out a window and a barrage of laser fire followed shortly after her.

“Argh!” She grunted as she stumbled to her feet. She let out a sharp hiss as hobbled away. “Damn thing got my side.”

There was a loud crash. It was still hot on her tail.

“Oh for fuc–”

“Head down!” Zhang yelled.

A rocket whistled through the air.

_BOOM_

The sound of metal grinding and sparks filled the air as the mechanical beast stumbled about before it came crashing down. Pieces of its metal shell clattered to the ground. Its remaining red eyes flickered out.

“Direct hit.” Breaker noted. “The thing’s down.”

“Hmm.” Zhang lowered his launcher. His eyes focused on the smoldering wreck, carefully studying the scene.

“Phew.” Nightwolf let out a sigh of relief, collapsing to the ground. “Thank you!”

“Don’t let your guard down everyone.” The Commander was skeptical.

Grinding and whirring noise filled the air. Those eyes flickered back to life as its feet dug into the concrete.

Nightwolf shot up in an instant. Her eyes widened with horror. It was getting back up. “You have got to be kidding me!”

“That things not down!” Breaker started taking some shots at it.

“And it has got us in its sights.” Zhang narrowed his eyes.

As the thing got back to its feet, its eyes focus on a fleeing Nightwolf for a moment. Then it looked up, following the smoke trail of rocket and sniper fire. The smoking gun. _Two new priorities_. Its center started to open. Red tracking lasers quickly focused on the rooftop pair.

“Oh, boy.” Breaker moved swiftly, already heading higher ground. Zhang on the other hand, quickly hopped off the roof. A barrage of lasers quickly obliterated the section of roof they were previously on.

“Nngh.” Zhang landed with a thud. His leg muscles twitched like crazy, fighting off a sudden searing pain. “Need to be more careful.” He muttered to himself. He quickly ducked behind cover when he noticed the mech looking at him.

“You alright Chi?” Breaker asked on the comms.

“Still among living.” Zhang peeked from his cover. Only to quickly duck. Another barrage of lasers. “For how long? That is questionable.”

“Are we going to have to call in an airstrike on that thing?” Central looked at the Commander.

“We may have too.” She bit her lip.

For a moment she took her eyes off the main event and looked at the others feeds. The police station was cleaned out and the rest of the soldiers were escorting the civilians to the Skyranger. At least something positive was happening. “All right people, once you get those civilians to the Skyranger, Chilong, Breaker, and Nightwolf need your assistance on the double!”

“Will do, Commander.” They responded.

“Nightwolf fall back, your vitals are looking shaky.”

“Planned on doing so Commander.” Nightwolf replied as she retreated into the station.

“Let me see if I can take some heat off of you Chi.” Breaker steadied her rifle and fired.

The mech flinched back as another one of its eyes was destroyed.

“Bullseyes!” She chuckled. “Uh oh.” She quickly found herself ducking for cover.

“Thanks Breaker.” Zhang took the opportunity to move to better cover. To get closer to the thing. With it still trying to obliterate Breaker, he steadied his weapon. “Let’s see how you like this.”

A barrage of green plasma pelted the mech. It stumbled back. Pieces of its armor popped off and sizzled, buckling under the intense heat. It refocused its attacks onto him, but the continued plasma fired caused its shots to go wide.

Zhang quickly ducked back into cover to reload his weapon. “Heh.” He chuckled darkly. “It _doesn’t_ like that.”

“Don’t get cocky now, you two.” The Commander interjected. “Defensive tactics.”

“Will keep that in mind.” Both responded.

“Looks like we need to bump up the development on plasma weaponry.” Central smiled, seeing the damage the prototype had done.

“Especially if the aliens continue to field more of these things.” The Commander shook her head. She observed the two. What an odd yet effective pair the sniper and heavy made.

“Let me see if I can distract if for ya again!” Breaker started firing again.

“Sounds like a plan Breaker.” Zhang waited for an opening.

She fired again, grabbing the attention of the mech. As soon as it was distracted, Zhang let out another torrent of plasma fire.

Their little song and dance continued on for a few more volleys. Each volley of plasma blew off more pieces of its armor. The intense heat caused the gears and ligaments on one of its legs to melt, causing it to collapse under its own weight. It was a twitching wreck. Red electricity coursed through it, its eyes desperately trying to find its targets.

Looked like the two didn’t need backup.

“Think we got it on its last legs!” Breaker said.

“Good.” Zhang hissed. He glanced down at his weapon. It was shuddering, the power supply glowed intensely. He hissed again, feeling heat bite at his arms. “Don’t think this thing can last longer.” He grumbled. He had a feeling the weapons division was not going to be happy if it broke. Hearing a particular grinding sound caught his attention. He looked back at the mech. Why was it starting to glow red?

“Don’t like the looks of that.” Breaker said.

“Nor do I…” Zhang raised his heavy plasma once more, taking a few steps closer to the wreck. “Stay down!” Zhang snarled.

One last volley of plasma. The mech sparked and contorted even more before. Electricity arced through it. Then there was an explosion. Small at first. Then several more quickly followed. The red glow grew brighter.

“Oh, boy.” He didn’t like the sound of that. He dashed away.

Just in time too, as the series of explosions grew in quick succession, as the red light enveloped the wreck. A second later it erupted into a great fireball.

The Commander let out a sigh of relief. “That could have gone so… _poorly_.”

“Dr. Shen and his team will be a bit disappointed by the state of that thing when we haul it back.” Central joked to lighten the mood. That got a chuckle out of her.

“The R&D team will just have to deal with it.” She shook her head. “Maybe the next encounter we can get one that’s a bit more intact.”

“Right.” He chuckled. “Nice work team, the AO is clear of all hostiles.”

Zhang let out a sigh of relief as he tried to catch his breath as the heat washed over him. “Ah!” He dropped his weapon, backing away from the shuddering and hissing thing. Green electricity arced through it before the glow fizzled away and one of the barrels collapsed. “The weapons division will not like this.” He had pushed it to its limit but if he hadn’t he would have been dead.

He took a moment to look at his arms; the flesh on his forearms was seared. It was nice and red. Blisters we’re already beginning to form. “Hmm.” He grunted. He soon leaned against a car.

“Looks like we’re late to the party.” Shepard commented. He and two of the other soldiers finally made it back.

“Yes,” Zhang chuckled, “you all missed the fireworks.” He laughed rather darkly. The three looked at each other, a bit perturbed, but said nothing. The other two did a quick sweep of the area, just to be sure.

Shepard came over to take a look at his injuries, but Zhang quickly brushed him off.

“Nightwolf needs your expertise more than me.” He told him. “She retreated to the station if I remember correctly.”

“Okay then.” Shepard raised his hands and backed off. He still didn’t understand the ex-Triad man. He quickly made his way to the station.

Zhang hung his head low as a headache came on. All the excitement was finally starting to die down. Adrenaline levels were returning to normal. “Still getting use to that.” He muttered, rubbing his neck. He let out a heavy breathe; there was still a hint of orange in it. “Such a rush.”

“You alright Chi?” Breaker had come down from her perch. She came over to check on her squad mate.

“I am still amongst the living.” He chuckled darkly.

She snorted. “Ha, ha, ha.” She came over and extended her hand to him.

He looked at it for a moment before finally grabbing it and getting up. “Nice sharp shooting.”

“Thanks.” She smirked. “And you ain’t too bad yourself.”

With her help to balance him, he went over to hiss weapon. The prototype was still sparking and smoldering. He carefully examined in, checking to see if it was still hot. Just a bit of heat remained.

“Commander, tell the Weapons Division I’m sorry for breaking the prototype.” He carefully picked it up, trying to keep it all in one piece.

“I’ll send them your preemptive apologies, but I think they will be pleased with all the combat data.” The Commander responded. “Will make them eager to put together another one of those things.”

“Hopefully so.” He chuckled.

With the prototype retrieved, and Nightwolf stabilized, the team made their way back to the Skyranger. All too eager to get back home once the civilians were dropped off somewhere safe.

“Ya know, Chi.” Breaker broke the silence. She was still helping Zhang walk. “I don’t care what the others may say about you,” Breaker gave him a hearty smack on the back, “but I _like_ you old man.”

Zhang cringed, his back arched for a moment. He nearly dropped his weapon. “Thank… you?”

“I’m being sincere.” She laughed.

“Hard to tell with you.” He shook his head.

——————————————————————

“Everybody quiet and stick close!” A hushed voice said.

His dreams slowly started to fade away.

“Geez how many of them are out here?” Another voice said quietly.

“Nngh?” The hushed whispers and murmurs caused the fevering man to stir. His body ached greatly, even more so when he felt something suddenly stop. Then something scaly pressed against his chest.

“Sorry Chilong.” A gargled voice whispered to him.

“W—What?” His eyes slowly fluttered open. It took a moment for his eyes to focus, but when they did he gasped. A wide toothy mouth. Gray and green scales. The face looking back at him looked like a humanoid crocodile.Then he noticed he was on the back of this _thing._ Explained the scales pressing against his skin.

“Shut him up, Ty!” Someone in the group hissed.

“Oh, shush yourself Skiv.” The gargled voice growled.

“What’s… going on?” Chilong managed to spit out a whisper. He carefully looked about. _Daylight_. They were still in a forested area, but why had they stopped.

“ADVENT.” Ty replied.

That’s when he noticed them. That all too familiar blocky armor.

“Oh.” He noticed they were close. " _Oh no_.”


	3. Haze

“ _Oh, great_.”

The sounds of alien chatter slowly replaced the once peaceful chorus of birds chirping away. Heavy foot steps, twigs snapping underfoot. They had come so far and now this?

The group did their best to stay together. Keeping a line of trees and heavy foliage between them and their pursuers. They observed ADVENT’s movements.

“Just follow Jackal’s… movements… Don’t exit the… Shroud.” Helios whispered.

Fighting his body’s urges for him to go back to sleep, Chilong wanted to be awake for whatever would happen next. He carefully raised himself up to get a better look at their pursuers. ADVENT as far as his eyes could see. A Captain. Several Troopers. And far too many Stun Lancers. _Far too many of them_.

“I see they want us alive.” He mumbled. “Not sure if that’s a good omen or not.” A sharp pain in his back quickly silenced him. He thought for a moment. “Rather take a _bullet_ to the _head_.”

Rustling leaves above. His ear twitched. He looked up. It was Jackal high in the trees. Prowling. Carefully moving. Carefully guiding them through and away from the hunting party.

Then a thought crossed his mind. Even though he was half lucid and in an exceptional amount of pain, something felt off to him. Even with how quickly the group silenced itself, they should have been spotted by now. He roughly remembered there were over 50 people that escaped and no matter how closely they stuck together — and used the foliage as cover — they would eventually be found. Adding onto this, Ty, the person carrying him, though at the moment somewhat hunched down, stuck out like a sore thumb because they were _over_ 9 feet tall. The foliage barely covered the two.

He closed his eyes to think for a moment. “Something's not right.” He mumbled.“ADVENT is close. Mere feet away yet they don’t see nor hear us?” His mind rambled. “Shroud…Helios mentioned that. Possible psionics? I’m not feeling any psionic usage.”

“>Disturbances… Expand the search this way! Southwest! Widen the sweep!<“

Orders were barked orders out. It sounded too close.

“Shit, they’re coming this way!” Someone in the group hissed.

His eyes flew open in an instant. “ _Oh, no._ ”

Just beyond the foliage was the leader of the pack. The Captain. Kneeled over, a hand carefully examining the ground. They had noticed a trail of broken branches and disturbed soil.

“>Hmm.< “Their head shifted as they followed the trail. Then they noticed something. Something about the air. “>Hold.<“ They got back up and raised their hand. The other troopers stopped advancing. The leader moved to investigate. Moving towards were the hidden group was.

“Shit.” Someone whispered.

“We may have to fight.” Another whispered.

“Then we give them a fight.” Someone hissed.

“Shhh… Do not… break the Shroud… Wait for Jackal’s signal.” Helios hushed them.

“Shroud?” Chilong mumbled. He carefully observed the Captain come closer and suddenly stop just before the foliage. He wondered why. “Shroud…” His mind searched for answers as he watched the Captain lower their rifle and raise their hand cautiously. Slowly reaching out. The air rippled like the surface of water disturbed by rain.

They quickly retracted their hand. “>Odd.<“

Then it clicked for Chilong. What was invisible to his eyes before became plain as day. He could hear the faint chittering as the ripple slowly stopped. “That haze that follows Jackal and cloaks us all.” He remembered catching a glimpse of it before he passed out several days ago.

“>Something is odd here.<“ The Captain gestured for the others to come over. “>Seems to be the Jackal’s cloak. Caution!<“ They raised their rifle and approached.

“Don’t like this!” Someone whispered.

“Looking like a fight will happen now.” Another hissed.

“Do not… break.. The–”

“Stop.” A calm voice broke the tension.

“Huh?”

“What the hell is he doing.”

“Stop.” He repeated.

All eyes were focused on the fevering man, who was more alert than ever. Though trembling, his arm was stretched out towards the Captain. His gaze locked, heavily focused on them.

“What the hell is he trying to–”

“Hush! Wait…Watch…” Helios silenced them.

Chilong kept his eyes locked on the Captain as they came closer. He closed his eyes and took in a sharp breath. “I said…” His eyes opened, bathed in that familiar purple glow. “ _Stop_.”

That ethereal energy quickly coiled down his arm to his hand. A second later a spark shot off and towards the Captain. Just as they were about to step through, they suddenly paused in their tracks.

“>Agh.< “They hissed, raising a hand to their head. A faint purple glow encircled their head.

“Stop.” Chilong repeated. “There’s nothing here.”

“>There’s nothing– _nigh_ –Here… <“ They shook their head. “>False alarm.<”

“Yes.” He whispered.

They raised their hand, causing the other troops to stop. “>Hold. False– _nigh —_ alarm _.”_ They grunted and shook their head again _. “_ Elders _…_ Voices… disrupted…Nngh, n-N-n-NO!<“

“ _Strong mind_.” Chilong grimaced, feeling the feedback. “But not strong enough.” A devious grin crept across his face. The glow from his eyes increased as his eyes narrowed. “What can I glean from your minds before I put you all into a coma?”

Another spark. His psionic spiked in power. The Captain let out a cry of pain, dropping their gun as they grabbed at their head.

“>Captain Orxon!<” One trooper cried out. The troop started advancing. Weapons drawn.

“Someone stop him, he’s going to blow our cov—”

“ _Watch_.” Helios hushed them again.

“>ARGH!<”

A chorus of shrieks emanated throughout the forest. One by one, each ADVENT soldier dropped their weapons and started grabbing their heads. Writhing in pain as they fell to their knees.

“What the hell?”

Faintly visible was a purple web, connecting one soldier to another, to another, all leading back to the Captain with one tether the most prominent. That tether leading back to the fevering man. His eyes glowed with great ferocity, but his body shook like a leaf.

“Aah…” Chilong hissed in pain as he clenched his fist, tightening his grip on the minds of their pursuers.“ _Where have you been? Where will you be heading? Outposts? Blind spots? What vile creatures may be about?_ ”

“>ARGH! NO!<” The Captain wailed as he tore through their mind.

He continued to clench his fist more and more until finally. “Sleep.” His hand opened back up. His psionic energy quickly dissipated with a harsh snap.

“>ACK!<” The Captain dropped to the ground and so did the rest of the search party.

The forest was quiet once more.

“How the hell did he do that?”

“Remember, he’s a powerful psionic… Even in his… continually diminished state.” Helios stated.

Murmurs in the group started. Who was this man?

“We need to… move.” Chilong shakily gasped as his body went limp.

“Hey now.” Ty felt him slipping off their back. “Don’t move.” They quickly readjusted their grip on him.

“They won’t be out for long.. Nnghh.” He grunted, fighting away tiredness. “We can keep with this trajectory but once we hit the river we need to head down river then west. Avoid the roads… avoid bridges… lots of checkpoints.” Each one of his breaths grew heavier.

“Can we even trust what he says?” Someone hissed.

“He just took out that search party. The _entire_ search party.” Someone else spoke up. “ _I_ bloody trust him.”

“Stay clear of any towns by the lakes… nests of insects… traps for those looking for… shelter.” Chilong added.

“Those damn chittering bugs?” Someone asked.

He weakly nodded. “Heavily infested…”

“Hate those things!”

“Well, what does Jackal think of his words?” A scoffing voice hissed.

Chilong weakly looked up. That Jackal was still perked high in the trees. Their gazes meet, locking for a few moments. Uneasiness permeated the air. Then Jackal’s gaze shifted over to Helios. All was silent.

“Jackal… trusts him. Says for us… to keep moving.”Helios told the group.

“Rrrgh… fine!” The scoffing voice hissed.

“Well, let’s loot some equipment from ADVENT first!” Someone said enthusiastically. “Better to have something than nothing.

”“True… Make it… quick.” Helios couldn’t argue with that.

A few from the group quickly went about gathering weapons, gear, and healing supplies from the unconscious ADVENT soldiers. With everything gather, the group quickly left the area before the soldiers would recover from their psionic induced knockout.

“North America…” Chilong muttered. He slumped against Ty’s back. The warmth was oddly comforting though he was burning up.

“Huh?” Ty looked back at him.

“North America…” He let out a chuckle. His vision slowly slipped away. “To believe I’m nearly back in the States… well what’s left of… it.” His mind was losing the fight to stay awake. “Overdid… the psionics.”

“Strange one you are Chilong.” Ty commented. They readjusted their grip on him as they felt him fully go limp.

As he finally passed out, Chilong’s mind wandered again. Wandering towards memories of the past.

—————————————

“Hmm.”

Zhang’s mind wandered as he blocked out the commotion native to the labs of XCOM. The machinery buzzing. The scanners humming. The chatter. The _prodding_. He sometimes wondered how he, and the others, didn’t go mad whenever Dr. Vahlen requested their presence for various examines and testing.

“Commander, he has _potential_.”

A familiar female voice drew him back to the world. He opened his eyes. A few feet away was Dr. Vahlen and the Commander. Seemed like any discussion involving him and the "good” doctor riled some sort of unease in the Commander.

“ _Potential…_ ” He thought. He observed the scientists working around him. Working on him. Prepping him for this _potential_. He listened in on their conversation.

“Dr. Vahlen…” The Commander let out an annoyed sigh. “Are you sure about that? Isn’t it enough that we have spliced him? Can his body even handle more of these… _experiments_ of yours?” She asked. “Which… I have to admit… you all did fine work on that. And Zhang has been working double time.”

“Thank you Commander.” Vahlen beamed. “And I am 100% positive.” She showed her her tablet. “This procedure won’t be a strain on his body like the genetic modifications we did months earlier.” She tapped a soldier's portrait. “Lieutenant Naomi, another gene modded solider, had no complications with this procedure as it unlocked her latent psionic capabilities.”

“ _Psionics_.” The whole notion of it still baffled him. He had the potential to develop the same abilities the aliens had been using against him? At first he didn’t believe he, nor any human, could develop such abilities. Until he was fielding with Naomi and Raziel one mission. “Gave the aliens a taste of their own medicine.” He thought. He could remember the confusion as the two quickly spread amongst a group of Mutons, causing them to turn against each other. And then Naomi managed to worm her way into the minds of one of Sectoid Commanders and took _control_ of it. “ _Frightening_.” He muttered. That day left a mark on him. And now he could develop such an ability? He didn’t blame the Commander for being so cautious.

“Right, Lieutenant Naomi.” The Commander nodded. “She’s shown an impressive amount of control over her newfound abilities, besides developing a concerning attitude as of late…” She paused. “But…”

“ _But_?”

“Are you sure about Zhang being a candidate?”

“Again Commander I and my team are 100% positive.” Vahlen tapped on her tablet and brought up some notes. “Ever since the autopsy of the Sectoid Commander the soldiers captured in that alien base, my team and I have been running tests–”

“Unauthorized tests?” The Commander narrowed her eyes.

“They align with the usual medical check-ups!” She quickly defended herself.

“Uh huh.” There was a hint of doubt in the Commander’s voice. “Continue.”

“As I was saying,” Vahlen cleared her throat, “we have been running tests on how sensitive the synaptic connections of the soldiers are to psionic energy. It was mostly a painless test.”

“Wait,” the Commander paused, “is that why we had an outbreak of chronic migraines amongst the troops four months ago?”

The doctor shyly smiled.

“ _Vahlen_ …” She growled before quickly recomposing herself. “A talk for another day, but _I won’t forget it._ Your damn eagerness…”

“Apologies Commander.”

“Save it.” She shook her head. There were days she wished Vahlen could tamper her eagerness and curiosity.

The Commander sighed again as she pondered for a moment. She looked over to the chamber just behind the glass and below them. Purple lights and mists flooded the room. Already in there were 4 other candidates in those metal “sarcophagi”; going through the process. She then looked over to where Zhang was. All the scientists preparing him for the procedure. She wasn’t surprised to see him looking at them. She figured he was probably listening in. He was the type to do that. A fairly good and annoying trait of his.

She closed her eyes and mumbled under her breath as continued to think. Weighing the risks. The pros and cons. More psionically capable soldiers would be nice. But she remembered how Naomi had acted recently on a mission. A little too eager to mind control another alien. To make them do her bidding. _That dark laugh_. As soon as that mission was over she quickly reprimanded her. She understood why Naomi was eager. The aliens had attacked her home city a few weeks earlier. But that didn’t excuse her recklessness. She put a lot of civilians in danger when she got a hold of a Berserker and had it tearing up the place like a wrecking ball.

“Though you already started preparing him before my authorization…” She opened her eyes, taking a sharp look at Zhang before looking back at Vahlen. The doctor nervously smiled. “I’ll let you run this procedure on Zhang. Just keep an eye on him.” She shook her head. “Don’t need him developing an _attitude_ like Naomi.”

Vahlen nodded. “Understood Commander, and the team is looking into that issue with Naomi.”

“Keep me posted, doctor. I’ll be heading down to the Cybernetics lab.”

“Will do, Commander.” She nodded.

With that, the Commander left and Vahlen made her way over to Zhang.

“How is everything looking?” She asked.

“Everything is looking good Dr. Vahlen.” One scientist replied.

“He’s ready to go in the ‘tank’.” Another added.

“Good, good.” Vahlen made notes on her tablet. “How about you, Zhang? How are you feeling?”

“Truthfully doctor?” He paused for a moment. He looked over to the chamber below and then back at her. “A _tad_ nervous.”

Vahlen chuckled. “That feeling should pass but I hope you’re not claustrophobic. You’ll be in there for 10 days.”

He chuckled. A smile appeared. “I believe… I will be just fine doctor.”

————————————

“Nngh…”

Something cold and wet touched Chilong’s head. It stung for a moment before it became a soothing sensation. It lasted for a while before disappearing.

His eyes fluttered open. Clear skies. An unobstructed view of the stars. The faint sounds of a fire crackling. It was night.

“Where…?” He slowly pushed himself up.

“No, no, no!” A set of hands quickly pushed him back down. “You are in no shape to be getting up.” The female voice tutted.

He grunted, closing his eyes from the forceful push. “Where…?” He repeated himself.

“Somewhere safe. Found some old cabins.” She hummed cheerily. “Now just stay still and take it easy. You tuckered yourself out from your brief show earlier.”

“Show…?”

“Your psionics? Knocking out that group of ADVENT? Remember…?”

“Right… I remember now.” His body shuddered. He really overdid it.

“Well, you did a fine job!” She hummed and patted his shoulder a few times.

“Ow.”

“Sorry.” She giggled.

The cool sensation was back. “Hmm.” He opened his eyes again. He saw who was treating him. Illuminated by the moonlight, was the face of a pale girl. Fairly young. Fairly _human_ looking. Cheery emerald eyes watching him as she hummed to herself. She gently dabbed his face with a towel. He wasn’t sure why, but he felt an uneasy pit form in his stomach as he watched her. Something about her appearance bothered him.

“How old are you?” He wasn’t sure why he asked that question.

“Hmm?” She looked at him. “What was that?”

“How old are you?”

She paused for a moment, tilted her head back and forth. She shrugged. “No clue really.”

“No clue?”

“Yeah,” she shrugged again, “teen I guess? That’s what everyone else guesses.”

“Teen?” He knew why he felt uneasy. “You’ve been in that facility since… you were a young child.”

“Yeah…” A hint of sadness could be heard. in her voice “But the past is the past!” Her cheerfulness quickly rebounded.

He opened his mouth to say something else but quickly closed it. It was best not to open old wounds. No one was safe from the alien's grasp. He closed his eyes and let his mind wander once more.

“How’s he… doing Clara?” A familiar stilted voice asked. Chilong took a peek. He recognized the silhouette. That scaled maned glistened in the moonlight.

“Actually awake.” Clara chirped. “His fever has gone down by a lot since you’ve treated him again, Helios.”

“Good… good.” He took a seat next to Chilong, setting something down alongside him. “Glad that search party… had medical supplies… glad Arkham… had the foresight to… loot them.”

“Arkham’s always thinking about the future.” She laughed.

“Yes… that survivalist mind of his.” He nodded. “Clara…”

“Yes?”

“You look… hungry… go get some… food.”

“But I’m not hungry.”

“You _look_ hungry…. _Go_ get some…. food.” He said a bit forcefully.

She pondered for a moment, then it clicked. “Maybe I am just a tad hungry.” She quickly got up and headed off ,leaving him alone with Chilong.

“Hmm.” Chilong grew suspicious. Why did she shoo her off so quickly?

There was the sound of a container being opened followed a bit of rummaging and mumbled rambling from Helios. Something about needles, salves, bandages, and a knife. Chilong continued to watch him from the corner of his eye for a few moments, waiting for something. But nothing happened. He closed his eyes and let his mind wander.

“Ack!” A sharp press on his stomach quickly pulled him from his thoughts.

“How are… you feeling?”

“Less pain… less delirious.” He hissed again as the pressing continued. His eyes quickly opened. His brows quickly furrowed. “Warn me when you are going to do that.”

“Sorry….apologies.” Helios said. “Checking your wounds…” He muttered. “Since administering some medicine…. Your latent healing abilities… have finally kicked in.”

“That’s good.” He huffed.

“Inflammation going down… Possible more salve in a few hours.” Helios muttered. “You nearly...wrecked your body chemistry with what you… pulled hours ago.”

“I still ache all over.” He turned his head away. Closing his eyes to block out the intrusive examination. “That Captain put up a good deal of resistance.”

“And you still powered through it.... Linking them all together.” Helios said. “Like when we escaped… you have… impressive power even while in this…state.”

“Yes, yes…” He slowly ignored the man’s rambling.

“Hopefully you don’t have to… exert yourself again… not sure how your body…will handle it.”

Helios continued to ramble and examine his wounds. Undoing some stitches because of those areas being fully healed and applying healing salve and bandages to other areas. As usual he made comments, taking an odd interest in how fast Chilong healed once they gave him some proper medicine.

After the intrusive check up was done, Helios helped him sit up and gave him some food. It wasn’t much. Some fish someone caught from the river and some soup from what they could rummage from the cabins and the woods. It was watery and earthy, but something to warm the body up. He couldn’t complain.

Chilong quietly sipped on his soup as he looked around the encampment. Those huddled close to the fire, some foraging, others treating wounds, and those standing watch. He closed his eyes and sighed. His heart went out to them.

He looked at Helios. The man was hunched over, nervously tapping at his lips, mumbling something. Well, he assumed he was nervous. There always seemed to be something on his mind. He wondered if the man’s mind ever had a moment of rest. Probably not. He was a living computer.

He took another sip of the soup, savoring the warmth for a moment. With a free hand he started feeling his chest, checking on the stitches. He was happy they pillaged medical supplies from that search party and happy Helios took the time to redress his wounds. He knew he was forever in his debt.

“Thank you for the continued care… Helios.”

“Hmm?” Like a bolt of lightning struck him, he shot up straight. His scaled mane puffed up. “Oh… not a problem.” He shyly smiled.

“I’m forever in your debt, if I’ll still alive to repay it.” He darkly chuckled.

“Gallows humor.” Helios noted. “Funny.”

He shook his head and chuckled. “A habit of mine.”

“Noted.”

Chilong retreated to his thoughts. His mind wandering to his psionics. He had to ease up on using them, especially with going all out. He could still feel the strain it put on him. He wondered how long the pain would linger. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but he felt like something was different with his abilities. Like they were… more powerful. Then again, his body was weak from years of torture. That was probably the culprit.

“So… Mr. Zhang.” Helios spoke up.

“Yes?” He looked at him. Then he froze. A hint of confusion and then fear flashed across his face. “What did you just say?”

“Shaojie… Zhang…” Helios rubbed his chin as he looked towards the stars.

He tensed. He knew his full name? “How do you know th–

“What do you know of…” Helios’ gazed shifted back to him. “The befallen… XCOM… _Shaojie Zhang_?”


	4. Identity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Helios sees behind the veil of Chilong. He knows his true identity. Shaojie Zhang.

“How do you know _that?”_

Zhang’s eyes locked onto Helios. They flashed purple for a second. A mixture of fear and anger coursed through his body. He had no memory of telling the rambling man his real name. He had been careful not to do so. And he never made mentions of XCOM. He wondered if he let something slip while he was unconscious. A lot of his dreams had been focusing on his time with XCOM.

Helios rocked back and forth. That mouth of his moving but nothing came forth. He tapped at his mouth a few times until he stopped rocking. Still no words from him. Just silence.

That only worried Zhang more. _“What does he know?”_ These thoughts ran through his mind as he waited for an answer.

“Remember…” Finally something. The odd man tapped the side of his head. “Living computer.” He smiled. “I was once… plugged into that… facility.”

“How. Do. You. Know. _MY. NAME_?” Zhang asked, in an angry whisper.

“Hmm…” Helios’ eyes looked around as he started rocking again. The scales around his neck wobbled for a moment. “Took awhile… for me to… find… your file in this…” He paused his odd, stilted speech of his and tapped his head again. “Wealth of knowledge…. _Crammed_ into my skull.” He chuckled slightly. “And you shouldn’t… have used… your old callsign.”

“What do you _know_?”

Zhang’s breathing became sharp. What did Helios know about him? His eyes darted around the camp; carefully eyeing everyone there. Especially those within earshot. Did the others know? Had he told them?

“Truthfully…. Not much about your time with…XCOM.” Helios said. He cocked his head to the side and looked Zhang up and down. A man full of secrets sat before him. “A lot of information… has been redacted…. Or outright… expunged.”

Zhang let out a sharp sigh. Music to his ears. If only he could thank who ever heavily redacted his file. He slowly relaxed, nearly dropping his bowl of soup. He hadn’t realized he was gripping it so tightly.

“Though your ADVENT…. File.”A hint of excitement peeked through in his usual monotone voice.

Zhang tensed up once more. He did not like that excitement in his voice.

“Security Advisor… Mr. Zhao  Jiahao? Or is it… Jiahao Zhao?” Helios asked. “Can’t remember how… the surnames work.”

Hearing that name, that false identity, chilled his blood. A name and position he hoped to never hear again.

Zhang opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He shook his head, closing his eyes, as he tried to utter something but his throat just wouldn’t open. He clutched his chest. His heart thumping solidly like a racehorse. “ _What is this feeling?_ ” The thought ran through his mind.

_Fear_. A horrendous amount of fear clawing at him. He didn’t feel like this when his cover was blown and they captured him. Nor when they tortured him physically and mentally. Why was fear consuming him now? Why was his body trembling?

Helios’ odd calmness was not helping him out.

“What.Do.You.Know?” He managed to spit out some hoarse words.

“Your role as a Security and Tactical Advisor… for high ranking… ADVENT members. ” Helios answered.

Zhang gritted his teeth. A life he did not want to remember.

“And a personal body to… _no_ …”

His eyes flew open. He could feel the color drain from his face.“ _No. He knows.”_ His mind raced.

“ _The_ personal body guard… to that _devil mayor_ …  Kyon Votol .” Helios folded his hands together. “You are a man… full of secrets.”

Zhang didn’t answer him. He just looked at him with wide, trembling eyes, as he fumbled with his bowl. His eyes darted around the encampment again. Did the others know this? He closed his eyes, trying to formulate a response. If he could even come up with anything. He felt like he was a dead man.

Then a soft touch to his arm drew him from his thoughts. Helios had moved closer. Wearing an odd, yet soft smile. Something about it was reassuring.

“They can’t… hear us.” Helios said. “And they… don’t know.”

“ _What._ ”

“Sound barrier.” Helios snapped his fingers. A faint dome of psionic strings became visible around the two. “I’ve told… no one… your secrets. No one… knows.”

Zhang’s eyes watched the strings fade in and out. So Helios had psionics too? He let out a heavy sigh, unsure of the strange man’s words. Yet part of him relaxed. His tone sounded truthful.

“You did… what you had to do… to survive.” Helios retracted his hand. “To gain information… for those who still resisted… our ‘benefactors’.”

“Yes,” Zhang paused, sighing heavily once more, “I did.” He looked away. Old memories were becoming painfully vivid in his mind. A hint of guilt entered his heart. “I’ve done many things I continually regret, during my time with ADVENT. Crossed many lines… especially under _her_.” He hated that mayor deeply.

“Worried that some of those your task force… ‘detained’… are within… this group?”

Zhang hesitantly nodded.

His eyes drifted, looking around the encampment once more. Many damaged souls around him. How many of them were at that facility because of him? So far he had recognized no one. Then again, during his “service”, he did his best to block out the faces of those he had detained and “rehabilitated.” Rehabilitation sessions. More like senseless torture.

Besides guilt entering his heart, there was a hint of something else. A hint dread. He felt like someone would eventually recognize him. The reason why fear overtook him so quickly when Helios spoke his true name.

“The tides of war are forever cruel.” Zhang muttered.

“Some may be… understanding.” Helios scratched his chin. “Others…” Helios paused, looking away for a moment.

Sensing he was looking at someone in particular, Zhang followed his gaze.

Sitting close to one of the campfires was a strange crystalline looking being. Sharp and slender, their silver and rust chitinous shell glimmered from the fire. A tar-like substance dripped from their neck. Sensing they were being watched, their head quickly snapped to their direction. Four eyes focused on them. A forked tongue flicked out. As soon as they realized _who_ was looking at them, they unhinged their jaw, like a snake, and let out a loud hiss.

“May not be so… forgiving.” Helios finished his thought.

“That’s Skiv, isn’t it?” Zhang asked. He felt like he recognized that hiss.

“Yes… that’s her.” Helios looked at her a little longer, then diverted his gaze. “She’s not fond… of me.”

“Seems like she’s not fond of _anyone_.” Zhang quickly looked away when the hissing grew in intensity.

“She always suspicious… and likes to… _challenge_ authority.” He shook his head. “I expect… her to pick… a fight with Jackal soon.”

“I take it she is very suspicious of me and my psionic capabilities?”

He nodded. “She is… Doesn’t trust you one single bit…. Has used… less than savory words to… describe you.”

“Huh.” Somehow he wasn’t surprised by that. “That is nice to know.” Zhang wondered if they had used those words when he was unconscious.

“I’m still trying to… find her file…But…” He tapped his lip.

“You have a feeling she may be one of _those_ people?”

He nodded. “If she is… she will try… to kill you.”

Zhang closed his eyes and sighed. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“We’ll try to keep that… from happening.”

“We?” Zhang questioned.

“Me,” he gestured to himself, “Jackal and a few who have grown fond of your…. Psionic assistance.”

“Hmm.”

Zhang wasn’t so sure of that. Would those few still be fond of him if they knew of what he did while with ADVENT? That he was formerly Triad? Then again, his Triad life did not compare to his life as ADVENT. _That life_. He had done many things in the course of his life, many distasteful things, but it just didn’t compare to his ADVENT life. The things he did to keep his cover. To prove his “loyalty” to the aliens. To prove his “loyalty” to that _mayor_. What a cruel, sadistic woman she was. He could feel his body shudder in disgust just thinking about her.

“Hey Helios!” A voice called out.

A mild distraction for Zhang. Something to keep Helios from prodding for more information. He continued to brood, trying to get his mind off of the past.

“Hmm, yes?” Helios looked over to where the voice came from. “Yes? Karris?”

“We’ve got a cot open for Chilong, in this cabin!”

“Ah good…. Thank you Karris.” He responded.

“Well…” Helios mumbled. His fingers twitched. That dome of strings flickered into visibility and quickly dispersed. He started to get up. “It is getting late… Chilong.” Back to that old callsign.

“Hm?” Zhang barely caught what he said. He was still buried deep in his thoughts.

“It is getting… _late_ … Chilong.” He repeated himself. “And you still need… your rest even with… your healing speeding along.” He added. “There’s a cot… waiting for you.” He extended his hand towards him.

Zhang looked at his hand and then at him. Calm and sincere eyes. _Trusting eyes_. A mild reassurance for Zhang that his past would stay secret. He grabbed his hand and got up. “Cot?” Zhang questioned.

“Would you prefer… sleeping on the… ground?”

Zhang thought for a moment. He chuckled and shook his head. “A bed sounds nice.”

“Good.” Helios smiled. “Follow.”

Helios led the way, and he followed.

Unable to help the growing feeling that they were being watched, Zhang glanced over his shoulder. It was Skiv. That gaping maw of her’s was closed, but an unsettling hiss was still coming from her. Her tongue flicked out several times as she watched the two leave.

“Hm.” He had to watch out for her.

It didn’t take long for the two to reach the cabin. A bit musty, but better than the elements. There were a few others were there on cots. Those that were still wounded and being tended to.

“Should be that cot… over there.” Helios pointed to a cot over by the window.

Zhang nodded. “Thank you.”

“Rest well.” He smiled and left.

Zhang made his way over to the cot, doing his best not to bump into those helping the wounded. Once he made it to the cot, he tested it with his hands. A little give but felt like it could hold his weight. He sat down and let out a sigh. So much was still going through his mind.

“How much does Helios know?” He muttered under his breath. “How much of my life Zhao does he know?” He shuddered just thinking about that persona he put on.

“Push it away.” He muttered. He closed his eyes. He tried his best to get it off his mind. “Push it away.”

A few moments of deep breathing, he managed to calm his thoughts. He finally laid down.

“I wonder,” he mumbled,“what the morning will be like?” He knew Helios would probably continue their conversation. He did not look forward to that.

He started to rub his chin only to quickly recoil from an odd, rough sensation. “Wait.” He returned his hand to his chin. It felt _wrong_. He dragged his fingers across his jawline. Long. Rough. Bristly hair. “ _What_.” He grabbed a hand full and tugged. He winced.

“I have a _beard_ …” He wondered how much time had passed during his imprisonment. “Wonder what I look like?” He had a feeling the beard only exaggerated his somewhat emaciated and damaged look. “I can tell it’s not _that_ long.” He wondered if his captors trimmed it. It still felt unruly.

“My head… Is it…?” Curious, he touched his head next. Buzz cut with a little fresh fuzz coming in. He pursed his lips. Puzzled by his odd finding. “They shave my head but let a beard grow?” He had to contain an urge to laugh. “Makes no sense.” He shook his head.

His eyes shifted, gazing out the window. The night sky was always captivating. He closed his eyes and let out a chuckle.

“Makes no sense.” How he wanted to know the logic by his captors decisions. “Wonder if anyone has a razor I can borrow.” He already had his mind set to do one thing in the morning.


	5. A Rough Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seems as though Zhang can’t catch a break. A rude wake up call and then a bit of a squabble.

“Hmm.”

Grumbled slipped from Zhang’s lips. He was fairly deep in his sleep, but the rays of sunshine were shining through the leaves and into the cabin. Dancing across his face.

“Ngh.”

Another grumble as he tossed and turned on his cot. The rays of light grew brighter, and he felt someone’s presence. Covering his hand with his head. He still wanted to sleep. He still wanted to rest.

“Go away.”

A sharp hiss came from him. He felt someone prodding his side. Prodding around one of his stitches. He swatted at them. The prodding stopped for a moment before it quickly came back.

“I said go away!”

He snarled, again swatting at the instigator. He curled up, trying to let his mind slip back to sleep. The prodding finally stopped. He let out a content sigh. His muscles slowly relaxing. Just as he was drifting off back to sleep, he felt a heavyweight on top of him. Then something sharp dug into his side. Something padded and sharp. Sharp like claws. He held back a cry of pain. Then something like a snout dug its way through his hands and pressed against his face. Wet. Humid. Fishy. Breath.

Zhang’s eyes quickly flew open. Curious, green eyes greeted him along with another huff of humid, fishy breath. A strange creature was on top of him.

“What the hell!?”

His eyes flashed a quick purple as he quickly let out a controlled burst of energy to knock the creature off of him. The creature let out a pained hiss as it was tossed off of of him, but it quickly recovered. Zhang quickly raised himself up only to find himself pinned back down by the strange creature. Its claws digging into his stomach as it shoved its snout in his face once more. Sniffing and huffing. Green slitted eyes studied the injured man.

Zhang’s eyes started to glow again as he clinched his fist.

“Get off of m—”

“TYCHO!” A gargled voice boomed.

The creature let out a pained hiss of a yelp.

Before Zhang knew it, the creature was pried off of him. He let out a sigh of relief as claws were out of his skin. He looked up to see who his savior was. That walking humanoid crocodile. Ty. They were holding the creature by its neck one-handed. It with squirming and hissing up a storm.

With the creature pulled off of him, he got a betting look at it. It looked no larger than a tiger. Milky white skin and a slender build. A set of quill-like fins were on its head and back. Pulsating. A bladed tail flicked about. It looked reptilian, skin as smooth as a snake, but flashes of sunshine danced along its scales. It was definitely something alien he had never seen before.

“Now get out of here!” Ty tossed it out the door effortlessly.

The creature sailed through the air, hitting and tumbling against the ground. As it recovered, it let out an angry hiss. Unhinging its jaw widely.

“Trouble maker.” Ty rolled their eyes. They turned their attention back to Zhang. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s fine.” Zhang shook his head. “I guess it was time for me to wake up.”

They shook their head and chuckled. “No, he’s in a trouble maker mood that lizard.” She looked over her shoulder, somewhat surprised to see Tycho back, lingering outside the door.

“Uh huh…” Zhang peered around them to get a better look at the creature. It was sitting outside the door, looking at _him_. He shook his head. Strange thing.

Zhang got up and stretched, hissing, feeling some stitches coming undone. Seemed like that lizard had done some damage. “Ugh, Helios won’t like that.” He thought as he rubbed the area.

He looked back at Ty. An intimidating, towering giant. “Thanks for prying him off of me. Ty? Is it?”

“Hmm?” Ty looked back at him. “Oh, welcome.” They gave a toothy grin. “You can call me Ty or Tayma.”

“Tayma? Hm.”

“Full name. Ty is just the short form.” They explained. Then they noticed his puzzled look and gave a hearty bellow of a laugh. “Feminine sounding, huh?”

“Not exactly what I was thinking,” Zhang shrugged, “but yes it sounds feminine.”

Ty let out another hearty laugh. “Just to clear things up I am female.”

“Uh huh. Noted.”

“The aliens had fun splicing me.” She stretched out her arms, showing off her reptilian visage. All traces of secondary sex characteristics were non-existent. Just scales and a thickened hide. “Look like a real freak show now, which is fitting.” She laughed.

Zhang raised a brow at how jovial she sounded. “Fitting?”

“I was in the circus. An acrobat and contortionist.”

“Really?”

“Yep.”

Taking a step back and making sure no one was in the way, Ty sprung in the air and quickly landed on her hands. Her back bending forward and her legs dangling in front of her.

“Still flexible as ever!” She proudly hummed.

“Huh.” That surprised him. How looks could be deceiving.

With little to no effort, Ty was back on her feet. “Guess one reason why I’m not as _bitter_ as one would think I should be.”

Zhang shook his head and chuckled. “You have an interesting outlook on life.”

“So I’ve been told.” She gave a toothy grin.

“Well if your hungry, we got some fresh fish cooking.” Ty said.

At the mention of food, a slight growl could be heard. Zhang gripped his stomach. A hint of red appeared in his cheeks. “Sounds nice.”

“Also, I believe Helios left something for you at the foot of your cot.” She pointed.

“Hm?” Zhang turned to see. Looked to be some clothes and a towel. “Huh.”

“See you outside in a bit!” She said. As she turned, a deep growl came from her. “Tycho.” The creature was still by the door. “What are you still doing here? Get going!” Ty bellowed as she chased Tycho off as she left the cabin.

Zhang let out a chuckled and shook his head. “Strange.”

He sat back down onto the cot to gather his thoughts. What an interesting start to his morning. He was glad the few still in the cabin were mostly undisturbed by that mess. He wondered what the creature wanted. Then he wondered exactly where that creature came from. He didn’t remember seeing it in the group. Then he remembered. He had been out of it since their escape and was finally becoming more coherent.

“I have questions for Heliosssss aah…”

A hiss slipped past his lips as a headache was coming on. He closed his eyes tightly as the headache quickly escalated to a head splitting migraine. His hands quickly flew to his head. Purple energy spheres appeared around his head.

“Not sure if those three will make it.” A voice echoed in his head. “Even with the medicine, their bodies are just not recovering. We’ve already lost five this morning.”

“What? Who’s there!?” Zhang’s quickly flew open as he looked around. But no one was there.

“Brings out numbers down to 72 now?”

“Yes. As long as the others don’t take a turn for the worse. We may just lose those three.”

“Who’s there?” Zhang continued to look around, getting more agitated.

“Where did that one-eyed man go?” Another voice echoed in his head.

“Ah!” The headache grew. Zhang did his best to keep himself from crying out.

“You mean Flint?” Voices just kept coming. “He went scouting.”

“Solo scouting? That’s crazy!”

“He can handle it. Like Jackal.”

“I don’t trust him.” Again another voice came to his head. But he felt like he recognized this one. “Something about him.” A deep hiss came from them. “I’ll have words with Helios.”

More voices started swarming his mind. Causing his headache to grow worse. Just as he felt like he would lose himself, as quickly as it all started, it all faded away. Both the headache and the voices. Zhang’s eyes opened in a flash. His breathing tense.

“What the hell?” He said with a shaky breath. What was that? He raised his hands to his head as he tried to calm himself down. Something about what had just transpired bothered him. It felt so familiar to him, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. Then he noticed the purple spheres floating around him.

“What the.” He quickly turned to look at himself in the mirror. He could faintly make out his eyes were glowing. “My psionics? Active? How?”

He shook his head. He took a moment, a moment to concentrate and get his psionics back under control. It took a few moments before the orbs disappeared and his eyes stopped glowing. Once it was all under control, he let out a pained sigh.

“I don’t remember activating them.” He rubbed his face. “I must have been overhearing conversations. _Reading people’s minds._ ” He shook his head. “Am I losing control over them? Again? Because my body is weak?” He looked down at his hands. Shaky. His gaze shifted to his chest. All the stitches and scars. He still questioned how he survived.

His mind slowly wandered to the darker places in his mind. “No, no, no.” He shook his head. Not the time. Remembering the pile of clothes Ty pointed out earlier, he scooted to the foot of the cot and picked up the pile.

“Some fresh clothes… and towels?” He examined the clothes. Flannel shirt and some jeans. Better than nothing for now. Then he noticed a note. He picked it up.

“We managed to find some clothes and towels. Some people had been taking a dip in the river to freshen up. Others gathering water to be heated for a sponge bath. Whatever you do, I will clean up your wounds and re-bandage them.” Signed Helios.

“Seems like he writes more clearly than he speaks. Interesting.” Zhang chuckled. He turned his head and sniffed. A quick grimace from and he turned his head. “Phew!” He was ripe as a rotten egg. “A dip in the river sounds nice.” He mused. He thought for a moment. He nodded. He felt like he would freshen up before eating.

He grabbed the items, got up, and left the cabin.

——————————————

Zhang took in a deep breath once he exited the cabin. The air was cool and crisp to his lungs. Nice and refreshing compared to the fishy breaths still lingering in his nose. There was no trace of that creature as he left the cabin. He hoped it stayed that way even once he got some answers from Helios.

Hearing chattering, he made his way over to one of the campfires. He figured Helios would be somewhere around there.

As he came closer, his ears twitched. He heard an all too familiar hiss.

“I don’t trust that silver haired _freak_. There’s something about him. His _scent_.”

A familiar, angry hiss.

He frowned as that crystalline being came into view. Even more so when he saw who they were talking to. Skiv and Helios. “I am not going to interrupt that conversation.” Talking to Helios would have to wait.

Zhang went over to a small group of people that was far away from Skiv. Far too early for a fight.

“Oh, the _demon’s_ awake now.” Another hiss from Skiv. He had been noticed. There was no attempt to lower her voice nor hide her disdain. “I don’t trust him.”

“Skiv.” Helios hushed her. At least he was trying to keep their conversation private.

Zhang could feel her eyes on him. He did his best to block it out and her words. Words he has heard many times. Maybe talking to this group would help him block her out more. He did not want to hear Skiv’s voice any further.

As he got closer to the group, it was about 6 people. Two humans, a silver-haired man and a young female, one of the freed ADVENT troopers, and the other three that looked alien touched. He recognized one human. It was Clara, that girl that treated him last night. He wondered what they were doing as he noticed the two humans and the trooper fidgeting with something around the necks of the three aliens.

“Be more gentle!” One alien grumbled.

“You want this collar off of you or no?” The silver-haired man spoke with a Russian accent.

The alien grumbled and crossed their arms.

“Good. You can endure the pain just a bit more.” He chuckled.

As Zhang came closer and his eyes settled on their necks, he couldn’t help rub but his neck. He wasn’t sure why.“Collar…” He muttered. His eyes focused on the collars. Blocky like most ADVENT designs were. But something about it seemed familiar to him. It made him uncomfortable.

“Oh, you must be the ‘mystic’ guy.” The Russian noticed the newcomer. He looked up from his work to get a better look at Zhang. “Chilong is it? Fine work you did the other day.” He chuckled and grinned like a cheshire cat.

“Psionic not mystic, Dimitri.” Clara rolled her eyes. “And morning Mr. Chilong.”

“Same thing, kiddo.” He waved her off.

“No, it’s not!”

Zhang raised a brow. He had a feeling this man could be a troublemaker.Something about that grin told him everything he needed to know. “Yes, the ‘mystic’ guy,” he used air quotes, “and yes I’m Chilong. It was nothing.” He waved at Clara.

“Nothing?” Dimitri laughed. “You took out a whole party of those bastards!” He turned to look at the trooper. “No offense to you.”

The trooper shook his head.

“It was nothing.” Zhang repeated. He sat down.

“Pfft,” Dimitri chuckled, “humble one I see.”

A metal click. The collar Dimitri was working on popped open. The alien let out a gasp. Like popcorn, psionic energy sparked around them for a moment before quickly fading.

“Oh! That feels SO much better!” They rubbed their neck once the collar was pulled off. They raised their hands and fluttered their fingers. Purple energy orbs formed and floated around them. “No more pain and no more buzzing!”

Zhang’s eyes lit up at the sight. “Psionic dampeners?” No wonder those collars seemed familiar to him. They reminded him of the prototypes of the Mind Shields XCOM had put together. They worked but always let one’s head and neck feeling unpleasant. He rubbed his neck again just thinking about it.

“Yep.” Clara said.

“Annoying things.” The freed alien huffed. “Absolutely painful things.”

“Hm.”

“You almost like you’ve seen these before.” Though fiddling with the collar, Dimitri noticed him rubbing his neck.

“I have,” Zhang nodded, “and have experienced them.”

“Someone as powerful as you got collared?” He couldn’t believe that.

Zhang bit his tongue. “ _Damn it._ ” He cursed in his mind. He was letting himself get too comfortable. How to explain without revealing too much?

“There was a time,” Zhang searched for his words,“when I lost control of mine…” A strong memory came to mind. He let out a heavy sigh. “Saving a close friend.”

“Saving a friend?” Dimitri questioned.

“Yes.”

“Huh.” Dimitri studied him for a moment. Trying to gauge him. His eyes returned to the collar he was fiddling with. “Must have got you when you were distracted by the pain. Seen it before. Not pretty.”

“Something like that.” He nodded. Let them fill in the blanks. Even if they were far from the truth. Very far.

“But it seems like you have fine control over them now! Ha! Ha!” Dimitri laughed. “I guess you can ‘thank’ the aliens for tampering it for ya, huh?”

“I guess I do.” He shrugged. Far from the truth.

“Better to have that power on our side than theirs, right?” Dimitri grinned.

“True.” He could agree to that.

It wasn’t long until Clara and the trooper got the collars off of the other two. Some more psionic energy popping and sighs of great relief. Zhang wondered how many in the group has psionic abilities. How many had been collared? Thenn a thought crossed his mind. “ _I don’t remember having a collar on or it being removed._ ” He knew most of his memories while he was imprisoned were still fuzzy, but he felt like he would remember that painful sensation those dampening collars always caused.

“That should be the last of the collars.” Clara said as she tossed the collar aside.

“No, no, no!” Dimitri exclaimed. “Give that to me!” He hopped to his feet and went after it.

“What do you want that thing for?”

“Cannibalize it.” He answered. He picked up the collar. “Take it apart. For parts.”

“Doubt you’d get much besides some metal and chips.” Clara rolled her eyes.

“And a minuscule amount of elerium.” The trooper jumped into the conversation.

“Bah!” Dimitri rolled his eyes at the two as he returned to his seat. “There’s something in these things I can use. Give me that collar.” He pointed at the trooper.

“Here.” The trooper tossed it to him. He caught it.

“You’re weird.” Clara shook her head.

“Hey,” Dimitri shook his finger at her, “you’ll be happy I’m doing this… if I find what I’m looking for.”

“Sure, weirdo.”

“Ah youth.” He smiled. “You remind me of my daughter.” He gave her a playful flick on the ear.

“Hey!” Clara quickly retaliated with her own ear flick, which only caused Dimitri to flick her again.

Zhang couldn’t help but chuckle as he watched the simple little ear flick devolved into more teasing. If he didn’t know any better, he would have thought they were father and daughter. He shook his head and smiled. Such a refreshing sight in such a bleak world.

  


“Are you even listening to me Helios!? He. Is. Suspicious. _Dangerous_.”

“ _Skiv!_ Hush!”

“Do not hush me!”

Zhang’s smile quickly shifted to a frown when he heard Skiff’s voice. He could tell she was purposefully raising her voice despite Helios’ attempts to hush her. It didn’t take a genius to realize why. He tried to block her out again.

“Uck.” Dimitri spat. “I see you gained Skiv’s ire.”

“Seems I have.” Zhang shook his head.

“She’s said some really ‘ _nice_ ’ things about you.” He chuckled. “ _Lovely_ things.”

“So I’ve heard.” Zhang shook his head.

“Tch.” He chuckled. “Don’t worry, I like you. Think you should stay around despite her idiotic protests.”

“Thank you.” It was nice to hear, but would he still like him if he knew the truth?

“We CANNOT trust him!” Another outburst from Skiv echoed throughout the camp.

Zhang let out a gruff sigh as he closed his eyes. He could feel all eyes on him and Skiv with that latest outburst. He couldn’t ignore her words any longer. He had a feeling he would have to step in. Confront her. Even if there was a chance she would attack him.

“Skiv… calm down.” Helios tried his best to get the crystalline being to calm down.

“Why the hell didn’t he have a _collar_ like the other psionics, Helios!?” She snapped. “What the hell were you two talking about last night!?” She snarled. “That stupid barrier of yours… I saw you two looking at me!”

“Skiv… please calm down.”

“Like hell I will!” She hissed. “That silver haired freak can’t be trusted!”

“Now, why can’t I be trusted?” Zhang finally spoke up. He got to his feet and turned to face her. He wasn’t surprised by the sight. Skiv was hunched over, that maw of her’s wide open and in Helios’ face. Looked like she was about ready to chomp his head off. And somehow Helios was calm. Questionably calm.

Skiv’s snarling stopped for the moment. Her eyes locked onto him, narrowing as she studied him. She withdrew her face from Helios, straightening herself back up. A deep rumble came from her throat. Her tongue flicked out. Her eyes shifted about, studying the encampment. All eyes on them. _Perfect_.

“Your ears finally working demon?” She marched over to him, shoving Helios out of the way.

“It’s hard to ignore your voice.” Zhang crossed his arms. “Now, exactly why can’t I be trusted?”

“Why can’t you be trusted?” She cocked her head to the side. “WHY CAN’T YOU BE TRUSTED!?” Another snarled outburst. She was soon in his face, maw open wide. A minor flinch, but he was mostly unfazed. “You’re an oddly powerful psionic _freak_ that wasn’t collared!”

“You have an issue with my abilities?” Zhang questioned. There was a hint of doubt in his voice. He didn’t believe it was just that. But now he knew she had a poor opinion towards psionics in general. “I never asked for them.” He glared. “And I believe Jackal broke my collar. Helios?” He glanced at him. He hoped he was guessing correctly.

“Yes… she did.” Helios swiftly nodded.

“Hmpf.” She huffed. “That’s what they all say.” She hissed.

“And what is the other issue? There has to be more than just my ‘psionics’ for you to make such a scene.” He rolled his eyes. He took a step back, seeing that she hadn’t retracted herself yet. “Otherwise I believe you would have issues with the others in the group that also have such abilities.”

“Your scent.” She hissed.

“ _My scent_?” Zhang questioned.

She retracted herself, closing her maw, but her tongue flicked furiously. She circled Zhang, taking in several deep, mouthy breaths. “Yes, your _scent_. You smell familiar to me. _Look_ familiar to me.” A deep rumble came from her throat. With one swift movement, she closed in on him again, raising a clawed hand to his throat. “I don’t like it.”

Though outwardly, Zhang didn’t look too phased by Skiv’s hostility. Almost annoyed if not disappointed, like a parent to an unruly child. “Is that all?” He gently placed his hand on hers and moved it away from his jugular. Inwardly, his mind was racing. He smelled familiar to her. _Looked_ familiar to her. That could mean only one thing, and he hated to even think about it.

“I look familiar to you?” He questioned. His mind was screaming at him for even asking that.

Skiv let out a grumble as he casually moved her hand away. No hint of fear she could pick up. She backed away from him. “Yes, you do. Something about that face of yours.” She started circling him again. “That silver hair.” She snorted. “The _way_ you speak and that accent.”

“Mm hmm.” He just kept a close eye on her. A close eye on those twitching claws.

“I don’t like you, _freak_.” She hissed again. “Not one single bit.”

“The feeling is becoming mutual.” Purple energy flashed through his eyes for a second.

“Skiv!” Helios finally came over. “Stop this… nonsense!”

“Stay out of this Scales!” She took a swipe at him but purposefully missed. “This is in-between me and him.”

Helios hopped back, half expecting it, but was still caught off guard by the attack. “This is crazy!”

“And?” She snorted. “Getting rid of him would probably be best for all of us.”

“You are not… the one… to decide that.”

“Jackal ain’t here.” She chuckled. She soon got into his face “And I’m not taking orders from a twig like you nor Flint.” The crystalline jaw of hers slowly contorted into a grin. “Who’s also ain’t here.”

“That does not… matter. You are.. Not the judge… jury… and executioner.”

“Oh? You want to go, Scales?” She taunted.

One would think Helios would recoil from having someone twice his size in his face. And that _hissing_. But he was calm as ever. Though there was a hint of anger in his eyes. His neck scales and fingers twitched. Faint energy strings flowed from his fingers.

“Perhaps,” Zhang spoke up, “it would be better to discuss this… issue of distrust with everyone in the group?” He put himself in-between, mainly nudging Helios away from Skiv. “I leave the camp for a little while as everyone… decides my fate. Whether I stay or go.”

A small offer. Just something to hopefully defuse the tense situation.

“Hmm… Yes.” Helios quickly agreed. He quickly retracted his energy. “Yes… let’s not be to… hasty to… violence.”

“That speech…” Skiv snorted.

Her eyes refocused on the silver-haired man once more. Still so calm in the face of danger. Something about him seemed so familiar to her. Another deep rumbled came from within as she inched closer to them. Hands raised. Claws twitching.

“That sounds fairly reasonable!” Dimitri spoke up. He was still fiddling with those collars. “Sounds more civil too. Don’t need a damned fight.”

“Agreed.” Another spoke up.

“Chill out Skiv.”

Several others joined in. No one wanted a fight to break out. Last thing they needed was more injured trying to break up the possible squabble. And then there was a chance if they made enough noise, a scouting party may find them. They did not need that.

“FINE!”

A snarled hissed quieted everyone. Skiv lowered her hands and backed away from Zhang and Helios. She looked around. Her eyes narrowed on a set of people who had weapons pointed at her. “Traitors…” She grumbled. How could no one see this man a threat? Everything about him screamed suspicion.

“Rrr…” She hissed as she drew closer to Zhang, pausing when she heard someone cock their gun. “You’ll get your trial, but I promise I will kill you, given the chance.” She huffed.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Zhang narrowed his eyes.

Another hiss before she withdrew herself. Turning her back to him and marched off towards one of the campfires.

Zhang let out a sigh as his shoulders dropped. A mixture of relief and annoyance. But his heart was still thumping. Feeling a hand on his shoulder, he looked to see who it was.

“Sorry about that.” It was Helios. Though he looked calm, his shaking eyes told him he was just as stressed as he was.

“No need to apologize.” He shook his head. He turned to face him.

“I tried to defus—”

“Helios,” He placed his hands on his shoulders, “there is no need to apologize.” He shook his head. “You are not responsible for her actions.”

Helios’ locked eyes with him for a moment. His shoulders drooped, and he sighed. “Yes… you’re right… but I tried… to calm her.”

“I know. It is fine.” He looked over to where Skiv was. Sitting alone by the fire. Hissing at anyone that tried to approach her. “She’s out for blood. I can tell she is one that does not fear reprisal to cause such a scene. To try to rouse anger from me.”

“Yes, yes.” Helios nodded.

“Well,” he removed his hands from his shoulders, “I’ll be going down to the river to freshen up. Give everyone some time to think.”

“Ah you saw… the clothes? And towels?” Helios’ whole demeanor changed. His voice perked up. That worry in his eyes quickly disappeared.

“Yes,” he nodded, “very thankful for them.”

“I’ll relay that thanks… to the others… that found them.” He smiled. “And I will… check all your wounds… and re-bandage them… when you come back.”

“I would like that. And.” Zhang paused as he turned to show Helios his side. “You’re going to have to fix this.” He pointed at some stitches that went from his left hipup to his stomach. “Had a bit of an encounter with… Tycho? I think that’s the beast’s name.”

Helios’ fingers were already examining the stitches. Part of it was undone and there were a few claw marks. “Hmm… shouldn’t be too much—wait, did you say…Tycho?” His eyes lit up.

“Yes.” He nodded. “Strange, white and slinky lizard?”

“That’s him.” Helios swiftly nodded. “What did he do?”

“Gave me a wake up call.” He winced as Helios examined. “Thankfully Ty came to my rescue.”

“Hmm…Tycho…” Helios muttered. He stopped examining the stitches. “He’s been… extra _curious_ … lately.” He rubbed his chin. “Especially… since… Jackal went to scout.”

“It’s a strange creature.” He shook his head.

Seeing Helios was getting lost in his thoughts, Zhang headed back over to where he left his items. He let out an annoyed sigh. He could still feel everyone’s eyes on him. Hear their murmurs. For a moment, he wondered if he should peer into their minds. Hear their true thoughts. He shook his head. He was better than that. He wouldn’t violate their privacy. Besides. There was the possibility his psionics were acting up. He didn’t need to tempt fate.

“Tch.” That Russian let out a deep laugh. “Skiv really wants your blood, Chilong.”

“It would seem so, Dimitri.” In the middle of picked up his stuff, he quickly glanced at him. Something about that grin of his unnerved Zhang. He noticed he dismantled the collars and was busy examining some metal.

“At least we all know how she feels about psionics.” He chuckled. “I guess I should expect a claw in the back sometime in the future, huh Skiv?” Skiv let out a hiss.

“Huh.” Zhang muttered. So Dimitri had psionic abilities too. How looks could be deceiving.

“Going to freshen up?” He noticed what he was grabbing.

“Yes.” Zhang nodded. “And to give everyone a moment of respite from that… scene.”

Another deep laugh came from the man. “Sure was some scene.” He slapped his knee and shook his head. “We’ll keep her from disturbing you.” He grinned.

“Thank… you.”

With items in hand, Zhang closed his eyes, blocking out all the murmurs and chatter. A moment to clear his mind and search. A little usage of his psionics shouldn’t hurt.

“Where? Where?” He muttered. He could sense all around him. Those out in the forest foraging. _Scouting_. And those who were at the river and streams. Too many people for him.

His ear twitched. His mindfocused. The sound of a bubbling brook greeted his ear. One where no one else was at. Just _nature._ His eyes opened. He looked to the east. Dense forest. It was a good distance away from camp. He would go there. He would be gone long enough for his fate to be decided.

His _fate_. He grumbled and shook his head as he started walking. “Like a tribunal.” He muttered under his breath. Old memories of his Triad days came to mind. He gave Skiv a wide berth as he passed by the fire she was at. He wasn’t surprised to hear a hiss from her. “To act so brazenly like that.” He shook shook his head. “She does not fear reprisal.” He mumbled to himself.

“Does not fear reprisal?” A deep growl came from Skiv. She overheard him.

“A–ARGH!” Zhang let out a choked cry.

“SKIV! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?” A rare, coherent outburst from Helios.

In a moment, in a blink of an eye, Skiv had Zhang pinned against a tree. The sheer and sudden impact caused some bark to crack and pop off. One hand was around his neck, holding him down. Her other hand was raised, ready to strike him down.

“DOES NOT FEAR REPRISAL!?” Skiv snarled the his words back at him. Her eyes focused on his face. Just a hint of fear on his face as he clawed at her arms. Gasped for air. A hint of purple energy surging through his eyes. His _eyes_. That _scar_ over his right eye. And the one on his right cheek. “You…” Her claws tightened around Zhang’s neck. A bit of blood trickled down his neck. “ _YOU!_ ”


	6. A Monster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Firmly caught in her crystalline clawed hands, Skiv finally recognized Zhang. That false identity of his during his ADVENT days. His way of talking gave him away. Would the others believe her? Would anyone come to his rescue?

“ _You_.” A deep rumble came from her throat.

All eyes were on Skiv and Zhang once more. What had set her off now that she was attacking him so blatantly? A few were quick to draw their weapons. But how was one to step in without causing further chaos?

“You deserve to die.” Skiv tightened her grip on Zhang’s neck. He let out another choked out cry. “ _You monster_.”

Her free hand twitched, the sunlight glinting off her crystalline claws. With another snarl, she drew it back. The next moment she brought it towards his head. Ready to split it open.

“ _So this is how I die._ ” The thought crossed his mind. Zhang closed his eyes, bracing for the impact. But nothing came. He opened his eyes. Those claws were mere centimeters away from his face.

Skiv hissed as she tried to make the strike connect. Her arm shaking furiously as muscle strained to move. But something was holding it back. A powerful force.Her head quickly snapped around, looking for the source. “HELIOS!”

He was marching towards them. His hand outstretched. Those strings of psionic energy faintly emanating from his fingertips. Connecting to her arm.

“Let. Him. Go!” Helios barked.

“LET HIM GO!?” She snarled. Her grip only tightened on Zhang. If she couldn’t strike him, she would crush his neck. “LET _THIS_ MONSTER GO!?”

“Do you know who he is?” She hissed, which quickly turned into a snarl. “Who he worked for!?” Her grip tightened. Claws digging deeper into Zhang’s neck. He let out another choked cry. “He’s fucking _ADVENT_.” That got everyone’s attention. “Zhao Jiahao. The Silver Dragon.”

“And… If he was?” Helios tightened his grip, pulling her hand back.

“ _Was_?” She caught that. “You fucking knew, didn’t you?”

“And _if_ I did?”

“If you did?” She hissed. “You’ve been letting an ADVENT security advisor… no,” she paused, her grip tightening again. Her eyes refocused on Zhang, studying him again. He was still fighting to break free. But there was fear in his eyes. She had him. “ _The_ ADVENT security advisor to that devil woman of a mayor, Kyon Votol, stay in our midst!?”

A few gasps came from the murmurs.

“Let him go… Skiv.”

“Oh,” her tongue flicked out, “I’ll let him go once I crush his nec—ACK!”

A solid kick to her chest, supercharged by psionics, managed to get Skiv to release her death grip on his neck. Crystals cracked and shattered. Zhang fell to his knees, sputtering and coughing. His hands flew to his neck to check the damage. A few gashes, but nothing too deep. Before he knew it Helios was by his side, hands slipping underneath his to check the damage.

“I’m fine!” He brushed him off as tried to get his bearings. Staggering to his feet. His eyes glowing fiercely. Keeping track of a recovering Skiv. But something was different. There was a ting of a gold to that psionic energy of his.

As Skiv recovered, she let out a deep, reverberating yowl. She raised hand to her chest only to pull it away quickly. Recoiling from the pain. There was some residual psionic energy sparking off the place of impact. A few of the crystals were still cracking.

“Bastard.” She hissed. She took a step forward.

“I’ll do worse.” Zhang warned. He clenched his fist, psionic energy flowing through it.

Skiv snarled, she took another step forward only to pause.

The sounds of guns charging, cocking. They were raised. Trained on her.

“It doesn’t need to come to this Skiv.” Someone said.

“This madness stops now.” One of the troopers, a Captain, added.

“You’re one to talk.” Skiv hissed at the trooper. “I’ll kill you too and the rest of you ADVENT, after I kill this _monster_.” As she made movements to rush Zhang once more, something caught her eye.

She quickly hoped back, catching a silver glint of something launched at her. A piece of metal buried itself where her feet once were. Purple energy flicking off of it before quickly dispersing.

“I suggest you ‘cool your jets’ as the young ones say.” Dimitri interjected. He had gotten up from his seat. One of his hands was raised. Rolling something between his knuckles, bathed in psionic energy. “Unless you want a true pissing match to start.” Another cheshire grin was plastered on his face.

“You pinko fuck!” She snarled at him.

“Oh!”Gasping sharply, Dimitri clutched his chest in a dramatic. “You wound me.” He erupted into laughter. Nearly doubling over. “You got anything better, dzuk'na?”

“I’ll tear your throat out!”

Just as Skiv turned to lunge at Dimitri, her body suddenly stiffened. Her fingers twitched as her arms dropped to her side.

“A-agh–Aagh….”

A sharp gasp. Her eyes began to glaze over. The next moment she collapsed to her knees. Her head hung low. Psionic rings enveloped her. Stasis.

Source? Clara.

The young lady’s hands were outstretched. Psionic energy flowing from her to Skiv. Her entire body was trembling.

“S–so–sorry. I just didn’t wan—”

“No, Clara… that is fine.” Helios reassured her. “Better than… unnecessary bloodshed.”

Breaths of relief were heard all around. Weapons were lowered.

“Sorry about that Chil–” Helios turned to him only to gasp at the sight. Anger was still coursing through Zhang. His psionic energy was lashing out of him. Visible wisps of purple and gold energy. _Gold_. Such a strange sight.“ _Zhang_.” Helios said his name in a hushed whisper. He reached out to him.

“Don’t…” He raised his hand. He breathed deeply through his nose. A shaky breath. A moment to calm down. A moment for his energy to receding. “Don’t touch me.” Another deep breath and his energy fully receded. Without acknowledging him, he picked up his items once more. He looked around. Not surprised to see frightened faces. _Hear_ frightened thoughts.

_“Geez what power. Don’t want to mess with him.”_

_“Saving a collar for him if he becomes trouble.”_

_“Skiv’s asking for a death wish… Nearly go the rest of us caught up in this.”_

_“Heard of that sick mayor. Could he have really worked for her?”_

_“Is he really ADVENT? Can’t be. No way. Especially with all those stitches.”_

_“He may be half dead and recovering but he won’t hesitate to retaliate. Frightening.”_

The thoughts went on and on. Zhang felt a headache coming on but quickly stopped it. Cutting his psionics off. He looked at Helios. Worried eyes studied him. He shook his head.

“I will be back within the hour.” He made his leave.

“Okay.” Helios retracted his hand. He watched him leave. “Hm…”

“I’ll keep an eye on him.” Dimitri said. A little _too_ close.

Helios jumped, not expecting Dimitri to be standing right next to him.

He chuckled. “Sorry.”

“Sneaky… like a cat.” Helios shook his head. “And thank you… I am worried.”

“Couldn’t tell.” He replied with a sarcastic chuckle.

“Something’s…. happening to him.” Helios tapped his lip. “Something’s… changing.”

“His psionics.” He noted. “Turning gold.”

“You noticed?”

“A bit hard _not_ to notice.” He laughed. “Nor the power spike.”

“Yes…” Helios nodded. “That too.”

“Well, I better get going before I lose his trail.” Dimitri took off after Zhang.

“Hmm.” Helios tapped his lip again. “His psionics… evolving?”

—————————

The birds chirping. Leaves rustling. Water gushing along. Music to his ears. _Peace_.

Zhang had made it to his destination. That babbling brook.

He kneeled over the waters, dipping his hands into it. Nice and cool. He scooped some up and splashed it against his face. He let out a heavy breath. _Refreshing_. He did this a few more times. A few more times to ease his troubled mind.

He looked at his hands. Twiddled his fingers. Psionic energy flowed through them. Purple and gold. His eyes lit up. “That is different. _Feels_ different.” He watched the energy flow a bit more before it subsided. “But my body doesn’t hurt. _Doesn’t ache_.” It made no sense to him. “I should be hurting after my squabble with Skiv. From _hearing_ all those thoughts.” Something was off. But he just couldn’t tell what.

 _Skiv_. He let out a growl. Just thinking of her made him angry. But he sighed.

“So she recognizes me. _Remembers_ _me_.” Another heavy breath left his lips. “Remembers _that_ old life of mine. Silver Dragon.” He grumbled. He detested that nickname. “Kyon Votol.” His hissed. “ _That_ woman.”

He tried to push those memories to the back of his mind, but they were coming back strong. Kyon Votol. Mayor to one of the “newer” ADVENT built several years ago. Built on the husk of his home city.

“What a wicked woman.” He grumbled.

Outwardly to the citizens, she was a beacon of hope. Kind. Charming. But to the resistance, she was a monster. She showed no mercy. She launched many raids, capturing many dissenters, killing any who fled.

Sometimes he wondered how he managed to get past her form of “immigration”, even with the help of his old resistance cell. They scrutinized his false identity that was sprinkled with a bit of truth. Former military. Retired police officer who did a lot of undercover work. Last job before the war, before being “called” back into active duty, a security guard. They interrogated him repeated. _With psionics._ Those upgraded Sectoids were vicious. But those locks on his mind prevailed. He fed them false memories. He made sure they never picked up on his psionics until it was finally necessary.

“Thank you, Geist. Old friend.” How he wished he could thank an old teammate for all the mental training he put him through. Especially after one particular incident. It was hell, but the results paid off.

Somehow, through all the torment, he managed to win their trust. Even to be placed fairly high in the city’s security division. ADVENT, especially the _Elders_ , rarely let potential resources go to waste. They would pick his brain a bit more after revitalizing his body. One of the few things he was thankful for. He was getting _old_. Couldn’t be much use to them if he kicked the bucket early. Though he hated they used him as a show pony to show the benefits, the _blessings_ , the Elders would give to humanity if they listened to them.

Over the years they put him to work and picked at his brain. Ways to increase the city’s security. Ways to catch potential dissenter attacks. And he let them. He had to put on a mask so he could be a mole for the resistance. “Not so different from my old life… before the war.” He hated that mask.

“And somehow I gained her trust… became her bodyguard. _Personal_ bodyguard. ” A hint of disgust left his lips. It was a higher position. A cushy one at that. Perfect for gathering crucial information for the Resistance. But the things he became involved in. The rumors of how much of a sadist she could be were true. And how he had to take part in some of those “interrogation” sessions. Just pure debauchery.

“Not so different… almost.” The thought crossed his mind. He chuckled and shook his head. He did some interrogation work back in his Triad days. He was never fond of unnecessary torture, but he knew how to make a person talk. One of his many talents.

“Was Skiv in one of those sessions?” His mind wondered there for a moment. Slowly recalling faces. He shook his head. “Stop, stop, stop.”

Another heavy sigh let his lips. He pushed the memories away. Too much for now. Too painful. “She has ever right to call me _a monster_.” He would let Skiv have that. “ADVENT…” He gazed at his hands. Envisioning blood on them for a mere moment. How many had suffered at his hands when he was a mole?

He dipped his hands in the water again and splashed his face a few more times.

As the ripples subsided, he looked at his reflection. “Huh.” He looked a little gaunt. There was a beard. His head was shaven, but hair was growing back. He tugged on the beard a few times. He grumbled. “Forgot to ask for a razor.”

“I can give you a shave, if you want.”

Zhang quickly snapped around, his hand raised. Psionic energy coursing through it. Purple and _gold_. Seeing who it was, _processing the voice_ , he dropped his hand. But the psionic energy still flowed.

“Sorry.” Dimitri let out a chuckle. He was a few feet away from him. Leaning against a tree. Fiddling with something in his hands. “Didn’t mean to spook you. You sure like talking to yourself.”

“What are you doing here?” He narrowed his eyes. How long had he been there?

“Ah, still in a mood.” He chuckled only to receive a harsher glare. “Keeping an eye on you. Making sure when Skiv gets out of her ‘little nap’, she won’t come after you.”

“Thank you,” he turned his back to him, “but I don’t need a bodyguard.”

“Maybe not.” Dimitri shrugged. “But it wouldn’t hurt to have an extra eye on you.”

“I don’t need a bodyguard.” A curt response.

“You say that now, but…” Dimitri shrugged once more. “You never know.”

“Hmm.” Slowly, his psionic energy dissipated.

There was silence. Zhang, kneeling over the waters. Studying his visage. Dimitri, leaning against a tree. Fiddling with something in his hands.

“You know.” Dimitri broke the silence. He stopped leaning on the tree. “I don’t care what Skiv said. Whether or not that ADVENT nonsense is true. Probably lies knowing her.” He took a step forward, only to quickly stop. Catching a hint of energy flowing off Zhang. “One thing I know for sure, you _suffered_ at their hands for a reason.” His eyes studied Zhang’s torn up back. All the scars. _All the stitches_. Damaged ports. Missing chunks of flesh. All telltale signs of torture and experimentation. “You paid a price. I _know_ what that’s like.”

Zhang muttered and grumbled. Why was this man still talking to him? Couldn’t he tell he wanted to be alone? What connection was he trying to make? He turned his head slightly to look at him. For once he looked serious. Not wearing that cheshire grin he always like to show. He felt like he was looking at the face of an old teammate. _Concern_. Eyes that had seen war. He turned away and sighed.

“Thank you.” He wasn’t sure why he said that. But Dimitri’s words did ease his mind.

Dimitri chuckled. “Welcome.” That grin returned.

Silence crept in once more.

“Could you leave, please?” Zhang straightened himself up.

“Hmm?” Dimitri raised a brow.

“I would like some privacy.” He gestured to himself, then the water.

“Wh– Oh! Right.” It clicked. “Taking a dip, huh?”

“Leave.” A small spike of energy emanated from him.

“Hey, hey, hey.” Dimitri raised his hands as he backed away. “I’ll give you your privacy.” He shook his head and chuckled. “I’ll be within earshot.”

“How joyous.” Not something he wanted to hear.

Zhang watched Dimitri leave. Making sure he was out of his sight before he finally undressed.

“I suspect he will have questions for me later.” He muttered as he undid his pants. “Talk my ear off.” He grumbled. A moment later, he sighed. “Perhaps it wouldn’t hurt to talk?” It was a dangerous thought to entertain.

“Whether I live or die when I return to camp… perhaps I can talk to him.” He mused. Part of him liked the idea. “He seems like the type that listens before acting…” Pants off,he tossed them to the side.

“And his eyes… his eyes have seen war. Lost friends. Close ones.” He sighed, looking to the sky. _Friends_. “ Akemi… you would want me to talk to him, wouldn’t you? Like the others you managed to convince to talk to me so I was _less_ of an outcast?” He remembered an old teammate. Akemi. Somehow the young XCOM operative had become close friends with Zhang while most kept their distance. “I hope you’re still out there. Alive. Still _Fighting_.”

Once undressed, he slipped into the brook. Letting the cool waters embrace him. Refreshing to his body and mind. He closed his eyes and let himself slip under the waters. Letting his psionics flow once more. Embracing himself. Trying to figure out what was different about them. They seemed almost… stronger.

“What is happening to me?”

That frightened him. He slowly began to piece together the headaches and reading people’s thoughts without control.His mind drifted off to an old memory. Another memory dealing with XCOM. A time when he had lost control of his abilities. Saving a close friend. That _one incident_ lead to his psionics becoming stronger. Almost uncontrollable for him. But somehow, after rigorous regiment of treatments and training, he got them back in control.

“Sensory Deprivation…Lots of training…Geist.”


	7. Feedback pt. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With some privacy, Zhang basks in the chilly waters, remembering the past, as he tries to familiarize himself with his changing psionics. Remembering a time he nearly lost himself to this dangerous power.

Memories of that particular day were always faint to Zhang. He could remember what lead up to that mission, fairly decent day at the main HQ, some psionic training with Geist and a few others. Geist. What a young, bright eyed solider he was. An oddly promising psionic. His abilities seemed to grow as each week passed by.

But everything else… everything else about that day was a blur. All he could remember was flashes of how everything quickly spiraled out of control.

——

“ARGH!!! GET OUT OF MY HEAD! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!”

He remembered his squad mate, Breaker, cries of pain as _it_ invaded her mind. Violated her mind. The aliens were fielding a newer version of the Sectoid. Prototypes. A little larger than the smallish-imp it once was, taking on more human characteristics. Developing a mouth, covered with a thin membrane. Disgusting thing. Sickening chittering sounds it would make. It was still cowardly as ever but now, its psionics packed one hell of a punch. Everything about these developments disturbed XCOM.

“EVERYONE GET BEHIND HEAVY COVER NOW”

He remembered the Commander screaming across the comms. Why? Breaker was field testing one of the prototype plasma weapons. And she had a _fine view_ on all of them. Didn’t take long before hellfire was raining down on them. Plasma fire. How much it could burn.

“The VIP!”

He remembered the shout. Glimpses of a squad mate, Aakrid, throwing their body at the VIP. Shoving them out of the way as a bolt of plasma fire came down. Next thing they were on the ground, screaming. _Sizzling_. The upper right side of his body covered in bright green. Things were going bad fast.

He couldn’t recall how, but someone got Aakrid into cover not before he was hit again. His left leg. The plasma eating his armor like a rabid dog. More burning. More cries of pain. Someone gothis armor off, but the damage was done. He wouldn’t be walking again.

Hellfire continued to rain down. The alien forces advanced. They were pinned.

“SOMEONE TAKE HER OUT!”

He remembered the Commander ordering that. An order no one liked to hear in moments like these. Having to injure, if not kill, a squad mate who’s been mind controlled. He had witnessed it. He had done it before. He was barely lucky _that_ squad mate survived. But it bothered him.

“Let me try something. Cover me!”

He remembered he ignored the Commander’s barking and broke cover, ditching his weapons. Her ordering him to return to his position to provide cover for someone to get a shot at Breaker. Or was she telling him to fire a rocket at Breaker’s position? It didn’t matter. They were not going to put down Breaker. They would not lose another squad mate. He wasn’t going to let a close friend die.

Even with the Commander’s yelling, seemed like the other teammates had faith in Zhang and provided him with covering fire. They saw that glow in his eyes. That psionic glow. They picked off the aliens, getting too close to him on his suicidal run. Giving him a path through the chaos.

“Nngh! BREAKER!”

He remembered he called out to her. Getting tagged a few times by plasma fire. Enduring the searing pain.

“C—C—CAN’T FIGHT IT! GE—GET A—AWAY!”

That fear in her voice chilled him. It only made him more determined to save her.

“ BREAKER! BRACE YOURSELF!”

He recalled when he finally got close enough he unleashed his psionics onto her. Digging into her mind. Ignoring her screams as he got to the source. And he quickly found it. What happened next he could remember all too well. Painfully well.

Mere moments when he found the source, the near instantaneous attack from the Sectoid made him drop to his knees. Howling in pain. The world was spinning, but he wouldn’t break the connection. He fought back.

The tug of war was brutal. Besides increased psionic strength, the upgraded Sectoid had some new mental barriers. As Zhang did his best to tear into it, to free Breaker from its control, _it_ tore back at him effortlessly. He was quickly learning he needed to act fast. And he could no longer hold back. He needed to let loose all he had. And quickly. Breaker’s screams were growing. She was getting the brunt of the feedback. He could hear her thoughts begging for it to end. For him to just kill her before it caused her to do more harm. He would not do that.

“ AKEMI! BRACE YOURSELF!”

One last warning before he fully unleashed his psionics. The sudden surge of power was just the edge he needed to push the Sectoid out of Breaker’s mind. One last shriek came from her before she went silent. He hoped there were no lasting effects from the feedback.

Now it was just him and the Sectoid.

At first he had the edge against the Sectoid. It was disoriented from the sudden surge of power, but it was quickly recovering. He soon felt its teeth sink into his mind. Like nails against a chalkboard. It was trying to take over his mind. He could feel him losing himself.

“CHILONG! BREAK THE CONNECTION NOW!”

He barely heard the Commander’s and Central’s voice as his eyes glazed over. But he heard other voices. Other voices echoing in his head, so painfully clear. The Elders.

“This one looks to be promising.”

“We can sense deeper potential within this one.”

“Bring him back alive. Though _broken_ in _spirit_.”

Just as he felt his own grip on his mind slip, he heard another voice.

“Resist.” A calm but firm voice called out to him. “Resist them!” He felt something reach out to him. Reinvigorate him. Just enough for him to lash back at the Sectoid.

“Get out! Get out! GET OUT!”

He lashed back at the Sectoid with the new-found power. Overloading its mind. Frying it. But not without consequences. That connection it had was far deeper than he knew. As it died, Zhang felt something snap back at him. Something _inside_ of him snap.

“ARGH!”

Negative feedback. Before he knew it his powers were spiraling out of control. Lashing out at his surroundings. Taking over or frying the minds of anyone that got too close to him. Alien and Human alike.

He couldn’t recall much after that except from what they told him. The medic of the team, Patch, was the one that got close to him. Managed to knock him out and place a dampening collar on him. How lucky they were that day that Patch was paranoid and volunteered to test out a Mind Shield they were prototyping. If Patch hadn’t, Zhang was pretty sure he would have had a bullet to the head.

————————————

“AAH!”

As the memory ended, Zhang came to the surface and gasp for air. He sputtered for a moment, rubbing his face vigorously. He retracted his psioncs.

“Forget I don’t have an oxygen mask,” he muttered, “and my psionics are… Strange right now, so I can’t funnel oxygen from the surface efficiently.” He raised his hand, fluttering his fingers for a moment. Purple and gold energy danced between his fingers.

“Familiar yet strange.”

A brief sigh. He rested his back against the riverbank and hung his head back. The sky was clear and beautiful. A soft blue. Not a cloud in sight.

“That memory.” A growl slipped from his lips. “Those Elders.” The growl grew.

He shook his head. Soon his fingers were rubbing his temples. “I’ll never forget that touch of theirs. A horde of voices and their fingers clawing away at your mind.” He shuddered just thinking about it. “Is that what the aliens have to deal with constantly? Day in and out?”

He wondered for a moment.

“Happy when I was undercover, I didn’t have to deal with that even once I got chipped.” His hand drifted to the back of his neck and rubbed the scar. “Though I had the _pleasure_ of working with a few Elders…”

“Angelis, the leader of this branch, of a vast empire, that is subjugating Earth. To think there’s more of them out there.” He shook his head. He hated to think of it. “Ga’rox the Arbiter. Ororos the Watcher. Ri’vi the Didact. A’Va’pur the Keeper. Ral’Maker the Builder.” He rattled off a few names and titles. But only the first few he hissed. The last two the hissing disappeared.

“A’Vapur. Ral’Maker… you two were strange compared to the rest. Almost… tolerable.” He wondered why those two were much “nicer” than the rest of the hive mind.

“I still question how I wasn’t found out sooner. Undercover for over 8 years.” He mumbled.“Did they not recognize my mind and powers?” He muttered. “Perhaps, the hell Geist put me through changed my psionic signature just enough that they couldn’t recognize me?” He mused. It was a strong possibility. “Their callings stopped sometime after some more hell from Geist. Mental locks, and blocks, training was the worst.” He could help but smile and chuckled. “Hope you’re still alive, old friend.”

But the smile started to fade as he thought back on the memory.

“Still can’t believe I did that.” He shook his head. “I always think before acting. But this time… this time I just _acted_.”His actions still baffled him. He was more professional that that. “Nearly killed Akemi. Feedback fried her pretty badly.” He sighed. “Nearly killed a close friend.”

“And then the combination of the feedback and the Sectoid and Elders digging into me made my psionics spiral out of control.” He brought his hand forward, a few inches from his face. With a little concentration he formed an orb of psionic energy. Familiar yet strange. “Somewhat reminds me of that day. Psionics growing and changing.” He mumbled.

“Though… less volatile.” He grumbled as he closed his eyes as the memories slowly flowed.

He was out for a week after that mission. In and out of consciousness. Fuzzy memories of the doctors and scientists examining and working on him. All desperately trying to wrangle his psionics under control. It took a lot of work, but the solution wasn’t permanent.

“Blasted dampeners.” He slowly slipped back under the waters as the memory gripped him. He slowly released his psionics once more. Embracing himself. Making a small note to actively funnel a steady stream of fresh air to his lungs.

When he had finally come through, he was force to wear a psionic dampening collar at all times. He hated the thing, the headaches it will cause, but it was necessary. His powers were still acting up, and it was for everyone’s safety. Until his powers were back under control, he wasn’t returning to the field.

At first it seemed like an impossible task for the doctors and scientists, especially after a minor incident happened at the main XCOM HQ that made his psionics flare up again.

“ _And then he had to attack me that day._ ” He thought. His psionics fully unleashed, the memory truly gripped him. “ _Briggs_.” He growled his mind.

He could remember that day clearly. All too clearly.

—————————————

Constant, low buzzing in his ears. Constant surface level headaches. Constant nerve pain running up and down his spine. Life was _hell_.

Zhang tugged at his shirt collar, gritting his teeth, trying to keep himself from going at the source of his discomfort. Psionic dampener. He wanted to tear the thing off so badly, but knew he couldn’t. “For everyone’s safety and mine.” He mumbled under his breath.

He was traversing the halls of the XCOM HQ after an early morning health check. It had been two weeks since that incident, and the scientists and doctors still had no solution. Except the blasted dampeners. So far that was the only solution.

“They’re letting _him_ walk about?” A voice rang in his head.

“The Commander needs to have him on lockdown.” Another voice joined.

“Has the Commander even had a _‘talk’_ with him after what he did?” And another. “Calm and collected my ass.”

A solution that looked as it was becoming ineffective.

Zhang let out a deep breath, almost a disgruntled snort as he raised a hand to his head. Mainly because of a headache coming on, but also to stop himself from seeing whos’ thoughts he was accidentally gleaning. Even with the dampener on, he was passively reading people’s surface thoughts without trying. A majority of the thoughts were never pleasant.

“Truly a pariah now.” He thought as a sigh slipped from his lips.

He never felt at home at XCOM. Especially when word got around of what his background was and how he became inducted into the organization. How quickly many kept him at arm’s length. But that didn’t matter to him. He wasn’t there to make new friends. It was just another place. Another job. One that didn’t squabble over money and power when the world was going to hell. That still bothered him. That artifact bothered him. He still questioned how his old bosses acquired it. The mere implications and the fact that thing was dangerous.Why he had to contact some sort of authority when he learned of it.

“An Ex-Triad member with a _conscious_.” He scoffed under his breath. How he had been _hearing_ that a lot more often. But he didn’t let it bother him. Most criminals had a line they would never cross. _He_ had standards. Betraying humanity was very high on his list. Besides, money and power would be of no use if the invading force eradicated or subjugated humanity..

“How’s Akemi doing?”

Another voice in his head and this one made him stop in his tracks. He looked to his left, actively looking for the source to focus in on. His eyes widened. He was infirmary. He was so engrossed in his thoughts; he hadn’t noticed the path he was taking. _Muscle memory_. His breathing grew uneasy.

“Still under heavy sedation. Brain activity is still erratic.”

“Akemi.” A mutter left Zhang’s lifts. He shifted his hand to cover his mouth. He felt a pit in his stomach and a lump in his throat grow.

“Still erratic with all the sedation?”

“Yes, the psionic feedback caused a lot of damage across her brain. Even if that… operative… hadn’t intervened, that new Sectoid caused a maj—”

Zhang quickly tuned out. His breathing growing more erratic. He quickly left the infirmary. Once out and a good distance away, he stopped and leaned against the wall. Eyes closed tight, his breathing was shaky. His _whole body_ was shaking. “Akemi.”

There was a massive amount of guilt weighing on his heart. He had saved his squad mate that day, but at what cost? Permanent brain damage? He gritted his teeth as his headache grew and so did the buzzing. He cursed under his breath in his native tongue.

“Would you be okay if I didn’t have these… cursed powers?” Ever since the incident, he started to dislike his psionics. Such great power had now put his close friend in what was possibly a permanent coma. “ _Close_ _Friend_.”

That was a strange notion to him. He knew very few people he would consider close friends. Though with his betrayal to the Triad, they were most likely enemies.

But a close friend especially in this place? It was strange. Most avoided him once his secret was out, Akemi tried to befriend him. He kept her at arm’s length, never revealing too much, keeping most of their conversational topics about the job and current events. But somehow, overtime, she chipped away at that stone-y heart of his. That weary heart. He slowly opened up to her, told her a smidgeon of his criminal past; still keeping many details of that to himself. Sometimes he wondered if she befriended him out of pity. He shook his head. A chuckle escaped his lips.

No, it was genuine. He could tell it was. And then, part of him wanted a friend. That old, weary part of him.

“Hey, Zhang.”

A soft voice and gentle hand touched his shoulder, bringing him from his thoughts. He looked over his shoulder, surprised by the sight. Friends of Akemi’s, Kim and Jarvis. Two friends that were slowly becoming more than acquaintances to Zhang because of her.

“She’ll be alright.” Kim said, her grip on his shoulder tightened.

“She’s a fighter,” Jarvis chuckled, “you know she won’t let something like this keep her down.” A little joke to lighten the mood.

Zhang grumbled, studying their faces for a moment. He looked away and sighed. “She is.” He agreed to that. “Hopefully she’ll be all right. Hopefully, no side effects from my actions.” He soon stiffened when he felt several hearty pats to his back.

“Hey! Stop being soooo doom and gloom grandpa!” Jarvis said.

“ _Grandpa_?” Zhang’s brow twitched.

“Jarvis!” Kim retracted her hand.

“What?” Jarvis smirked. “Trying to lighten the moooood.” He sang.

Zhang turned around to face the two. A frown forming oh so slowly, but his brow was still twitching. “ _Grandpa?_ ” He repeated.

Jarvis shrugged and smirked. “Akemi calls you old man all the time. Soooo grandpa is fitting.”

“I’m not that _old_.” He shook his head. “Old enough to be _your_ father, but not that old.”

“Whatever, gramps.” Jarvis still had a smirk plastered on his face.

_SMACK_

“OW!”A solid smack to the back of his head made it quickly disappear. “Kim!”

“You can still try to lighten the mood and be respectful, you idiota.” Kim shook the hand she smacked him with. “Thick skull of yours…”

Zhang stifled a chuckle. That frown of his quickly disappeared.

“So, Zhang?” She looked at him.

“Yes?”

“Care to get lunch with us? And then possible a game of cards?” She asked. “Get you out of that lab for a few hours.”

Zhang thought for a moment and nodded. “I am hungry and the latter sounds refreshing.”

“Alright!” Kim clasped her hands. “It’s a plan. Let’s get going.” She led the way.

“Wonder what’s on the menu today?” Jarvis mumbled under his breath.

“Something edible.” Kim playfully nudged him.

“Yeah it can be edible but taste like crap!”

“Everything tastes like crap to you because you have bougie standards.” She rolled her eyes.

“Hey! I can’t help it that most of my family are chefs!”

Zhang chuckled and shook his head at the two. In a way, he was happy the two didn’t distance themselves like so many others had done since that incident. Possibly one of the few reasons why there was a small part of him that wasn’t fully engulfed in weariness and cynicism. He had to thank them for that one day.

“By the way, Jarvis.” Zhang interrupted the two’s petty squabble. “Akemi no longer calls me old man.”

“Oh, really now?” Jarvis raised a brow. “Is it gran—OW! KIM!”

“No.” Zhang chuckled. “She calls me _Uncle_.”

———

A cacophony of chatter and laughs. Food flying through the air, as a little prank was pulled on a suspecting rookie. Arguments between soldiers and the cooking staff over food choices. The smell of burnt coffee permitting the air. It was the mess hall. The same old mess hall.

“Nnngh…”

And it was all a pain to Zhang’s head. Munching on a rather dry sandwich, Zhang was having to actively surpress the thoughts of those around him, trying to invade his mind. One hand went up to his neck, tugging on the dampening collar. _“I’m going to head back to the labs and get this replaced once I’m finished._ ” The thought ran through his mind. This was new to him. Yes, the dampener wasn’t perfect, but it never let his psionics glean so many minds at once.

  


“So what do you think of those new Mutons?” Kim asked. She took bite out of an apple. “Looking a tad smaller than the usual ones.”

A fork clattered against a tray. Jarvis growled. “Those bastards seem to be a bit smarter. Getting better at setting up ambushes!”

“Grenades?”

“Lots of them.” He subconsciously rubbed his arm. “And they’re making their grenades nastier.”

Zhang was listening in on the two’s conversation, getting caught up on how the war was going and all the changes that were happening. Looked like the aliens were fielding more prototypes. More advanced versions of their forces. He wondered what the new Mutons looked like.

As he was about to ask, sharp pain distracted him. He held back a hiss as his hand shifted to his head as his eyes closed tightly. It felt like someone was taking a hammer to his skull. _Repeatedly_.

“Nastier grenades? How so?”

“More shrap, and _acid_.”

“Acid? Doesn’t plasma burn enough?”

“Not to those _bastards_.” Jarvis angrily rolled up his shirt sleeve. There was a thick wad of gauze wrapped around his forearm. He carefully lifted it up, revealing a patch of darkened, shriveled skin on his bicep. Parts of it still looked raw. “I was lucky my armor kept most of it at bay.”

“Ouch.”

So far, the two were oblivious to Zhang’s plight.

Zhang tried to refocus his thoughts. Refocus onto his companions’ conversation. Managing to open his eyes, he took a peek at the wound Jarvis was showing them. He wrinkled his nose. “Nasty.”

“ _Right_?” Jarvis rolled down the sleeve. “Still tender there and have to treat it ever so often.” He picked his fork back up and shoveled a fork full of mashed potatoes into it. “’t oozes ’n leaks ’tis thick…” He swallowed. He was one to talk with his mouth full. “Clotted, smelly, yellow-green pu—”

“Ew, ew, ew!” Apple dropping to her tray, Kim quickly raised a hand. “Eating here!’

He let out a little snicker. “What? I thought you had an iron stomach, Kimmy?“

“To food? Yes.” She soon glared. “To descriptions of your wound? _No!_ ”

“Really?” He laughed which turned into a raspy cackle. “Really!?” He slammed his fist against the table a few times.

“Get a grip Jarvis!” A tad embarrassed by his antics, but she was glad they’re the only ones at the end of the table. But still a few eyes were on them.

The slamming died down, and so did the cackling; he was still wheezing. “You’ve dressed wounds worse than what I was describing!”

“And?”

“I’ve seen you amputate someone’s arm after it got shredded by a chryssalid!” He retorted.“Hell! I’ve seen you stuff someone’s intestines back into their stomach!”

“So? That’s different.”

“Different? _Different!?”_ He threw his hands into the arm _._ A wad of mash went sailing. “You were covered head to toe in blood and _bile_! What the hell kind of disconnect is that?”

Kim shrugged. “It wasn’t that disgusting real—”

A sharp hiss caught her attention. She looked over, a gasp came from her.

“Zhang?” A hint of worry came from her.

Curious, Jarvis looked over. That smug, yet confused, look of his quickly disappeared. “Shit.”

A crushed mess of a sandwich was sitting before Zhang. He had his head buried in his hands. Fingers clawing at his scalp, smearing some contents of the sandwich into his hair. A sharp his was still coming from him. His teeth gnashing.

“Zhang? Are you alright?”

He didn’t hear them. There was a cacophony of thoughts in his head. A mad orchestra of whispers. And _screaming._ All overlapping, all unintelligible. All growing louder. Especially that screaming. It sounded so familiar to him. He felt a pit in his stomach.

“Hey! Zhang!”

“Huh? What?”

A solid shake drew him from his thoughts. The symphony of sounds died down in an instant. But that screaming still lingered. He looked at them. Glowing, bloodshot eyes looked at worried faces.

“You okay gramps?” Jarvis had a solid grip on his arm. “You’re looking terrible.”

“Your eyes.” Kim said in a hush whispered. “They’re purple.” She knew what that meant.

“Nnghh…” Zhang grumbled. He didn’t like the sound of that. That dampener was failing fast. He took a moment to rub his temples. “I’m all right but I think I will cut our lunch short and head back to the l—”

_“The nerve of him… Can’t believe that bastard is still here after what he did!”_

A venom laced thought pierced his mind, louder than the screaming. The voice was all to familiar to him. It made him go quiet. Though his lips twisted into a frown.

“Zhang?” Kim asked. “What’s wrong.”

“Weeeeeell,” Jarvis leaned over, peering past Zhang, “Briggs is staring a hole in the back of his skull. I think Zhang’s picked up a sixth sense just to detect that guy whenever he pops up.”

“Briggs is here?” Her eyes widened. Her voice kicked up a pitch.“I thought he was on a mission!”

“Guess they finished early.” He nervously chuckled. “Which is just lovely and ruins the mood.” He sighed. “Eh? Zhang?”

The silver-haired man got up in a heartbeat. Tossing the remnants of his sandwich on his tray whilst mumbling and grumbling. White knuckles tightly gripped the tray.

“Sorry to cut our lunch short, but I need to get back to the Psionics Labs.” Zhang said through gritted teeth. “We’ll play cards another day.”

“Hey gramps, you can’t let that guy get under youuuuuuur and he’s ignoring me.” Jarvis’ brows fell. He watched him leave. “Geez Briggs really gets to him.”

“It’s been worse ever since what happened to Akemi and she hasn’t recovered.” Kim sighed.

“I still don’t get Briggs beef with him.” Jarvis shoved food into his mouth. “‘Ike ser’isly wha’s his prob?”

“Chew and swallow please.” Kim frowned. ”With your mouth closed.”

Jarvis started smacking with his mouth wide open in response. A devilish look in his eyes. That just made her glare.

She sighed. No way of making him behave.

“From what I’ve heard,” she glanced behind her to get a better look at Briggs. He was still watching Zhang with an intense glare. “He’s got issues with criminals, specifically those that were a part of gangs or organized crime”

“Uh,” he raised a brow, “several people here fit that bill with their younger days. Can’t judge people by their pasts.”

“Yes, but several of them didn’t join like Zhang did.” She said. “He has diplomatic immunity.”

“Oh, _right_.” He had forgotten about that detail.

Jarvis toyed with his food as his mind pondered about that detail. Zhang never elaborated on how he got immunity. He always kept those details to himself. But he knew Zhang’s “recruitment” had to deal with a series of Operations that lead to the Battleship over Beijing being brought down a few months ago. The technology they recovered from the ship was a boon for XCOM.

“Wonder how R&D is doing on that new shotgun?” He mumbled as he shoved some food into his mouth. “Been ‘ear’in ‘one ‘lloys—”

“Mouth closed.” Kim spoke up.

He glared back, angrily chewing for a moment before swallowing. “As I was saying, the alloys have been tearing apart the barrels during testing.” He chuckled and grinned. “Can’t wait to see the damage it will do to the aliens.”

“Is your mind always on carnage?”

“Maybe.” He grinned.

“Idiota.” She flung the remnants of her apple at him.

Another chuckle. Another childish grin. Jarvis loved to annoy her.

“Oh he isn’t…”

That grin quickly disappeared as he noticed a potential problem. As Zhang was leaving the mess hall, Briggs was getting up from his seat. There was fire in his eyes, a scowl painted across his face. He was hot on Zhang’s tail.

“He is. _Shit_.”Jarvis didn’t like the look of that.

“What now?” Kim asked.

“I think we’re gonna have to stop a potential fight.” He was already getting up.

“Who’s about to fight?”

“Briggs is going after Zhang!”

————

Down a few halls, Zhang’s movement was sluggish. Though he had left the mess hall, the symphony of sounds was coming back. Thoughts, whispers, _screaming_ ; all of it was tearing into his skull. It was getting harder and harder for him to try to suppress it. His fingers were tugging at the dampening collar, ready to tear it off. It wasn’t doing a damn thing anymore.

A particularly piercing pain shot through his body. He could barely brace himself against the wall, as it brought him to his knees. He let out a pained gasp as another pain shot through him.

“Something’s wrong…. Almost like that day.” He muttered under his breath as he straightened himself back up.

“Can you hear us? Oh, human with potential?” A hissed whisper tickled his mind.

“No.” He felt his blood run cold. He recognized this voice.

“Oh, where are you, young one?” Another joined. “Show us where you are.”

“Impossible.” Now there was another, just like that day he nearly lost his mind. “You _devils_.” He growled. Those Ethereal voices. Those Elders.

“Show us young one. Show us your fabled, Commander, give yourselves up, and we will spare this world.” The two voices spoke in unison.” We will heal your _friend_.”

“Lies! Get out of my head!” He growled once more.

But they didn’t. The two voices continued on. Slowly becoming hundreds of voices. All speaking in unison. All beckoning for him to reveal the location of XCOM to them. Reveal who this Commander was. The dreaded thorn in their side. Promising to spare this world. Heal his friend from that snap decision he made that day. But he wouldn’t. He wouldn’t betray humanity, even if meant he would go insane. “ _Cursed powers._ ”

“TRIAD!”

Another voice to add onto the torture inside his head. Wait… no.

This one sounded like it wasn’t in his head. And he recognized the venom in the voice. Ever fiber of his being was screaming for him to move.

With trembling hands, he pulled himself away. A slight gust of air and a solid thud follow shortly.

“TRIAD!”

That venom laced snarl was closer than ever.

“Great.” Zhang finally recognized it. “ _Briggs_.”

Hesitant at first, he turned to confirm his suspicions. Just behind him, with a fist still connected to the wall, was Briggs. The soldier’s lips contorted into a snarl, eyes locked onto Zhang.

“What do you want Briggs?” Though in a great amount of pain and somewhat distracted, Zhang tried to be civil. _Truthfully_ , the hate between the two was mutual. His eyes went wide. “What the hell!?” He quickly found himself dodging another fist.

“The nerve of you!” Briggs snarled. “Walking around freely after what you did!” The punches kept coming.

Zhang raised his arms, doing his best to block the flurry of blows. “What is your problem?”

“You should be locked up, you bastard!”

“Are you still—ACK!”

A fist snuck through Zhang’s defense and landed solidly against his stomach. Knocking the wind out of him. Before he had a chance to recover, to strike back, he crashed to the floor. The world was spinning. His head was hurting a lot more than before. Feeling something run down his lip, he raised a hand to his face. A twinge of pain, a slight cringe. He pulled his hand back. Blood.

“Really?” Oh, how he wanted to deck him now.

“That’s for Akemi.” Briggs rolled his shoulder. Fists still clenched. “Wish that Sectoid fried your brain.”

“ Tuōqiàn de…” Zhang gritted his teeth. His blood boiled hearing that. “You think…” He picked himself off the ground. His eyes glowing fiercely. “ _YOU_ THINK I DID THAT TO HER ON _PURPOSE_!?”

“HELL YES!” Briggs snarled back.

Briggs was about to through another punch until he found himself stumbling forward because of a sudden weight on his back.

“HE–EY!” He let out a choked gasp.

“The hell is your damage!?” It was Jarvis. He lept onto Briggs back and got his arm around the meathead’s neck.

“Zhang!” Kim made it over to him. She let out a gasp. Blood, and lots of it, was running down Zhang’s face. “What the hell Briggs!?” She was already pulling off her bandana to treat the nose bleed. That medic in her was kicking in.

“Thank you.” Zhang spat out between pulsing migraines. He was happy the two showed up when they did. He needed a buffer. Some voices of reason.

“ _Show us, oh young one._ ”

_Voices of sanity_ in his spinning head. He could feel himself slipping. He could feel that dampener falling as the seconds ticked by. The voices of the Elders growing louder in his skull. His psionics slowly spiking. He needed to get to the Psi Labs and fast.

“GET OFF ME YOU MONKEY!”

“And let you continue your idiotic quest of vengeance? Ha, ha, ha, no!”

Jarvis still had Briggs occupied. He had a solid grip on him. Like a cowboy riding a bucking bull. If it wasn’t such a serious moment, watching such small fry give a large like Briggs some trouble would have been hilarious.

A few more moments of stumbling, Briggs managed to get his footing. He got a solid grip on Jarvis’ arms and held him tight.

“What the hell are y—ACK!”

Before Jarvis knew it, Briggs had quickly backpedaled, ramming the both of them into the wall. There was an audible snap as the wind was knocked out of him. “Baaas… baasstard.”

Feeling his grip slip, Briggs let go of Jarvis, letting the man slip off his back and slump to the floor.

“Told you to let go, you monkey.” Briggs rolled his shoulders. “Enjoy the broken ribs.”

With one annoyance down, Briggs turned his attention back to his main target. Zhang. He was puzzled, if not angered by the sight. Kim treating that Triad man.

“How can you be helping someone like him!?” He was already marching over to the two.

“Because I’m not mental like you.” Kim glanced at him from the corner of her eye. She didn’t like the look in his eye. “The reprimand you’ll be getting….” She mumbled under her breath.

“Mental?” He questioned. “Mental!? He’s fucking Triad! You can’t trust him!”

“I trust him a hell lot more than I trust you.” She sneered. She was putting herself between him and Zhang. Trying to move Zhang down the hall, but he was slow to move.

“Trust him?” He couldn’t believe that. “He’s some mole! A fucking hitman!”

Briggs step increased. Hands forming into fists once more.

“Probably threatened one of the scientists to get those fucking powers!” He step increased again as Kim tried to shove Zhang along. “Those same fucking powers he used to fry Akemi’s brain!”

Another step, he caught up to the two again. Before Kim had time to react, he managed to grab her arm and pulled her away from Zhang. With the path open, he threw that fist.

“BRIGGS! NO!” Kim cried out.

The world seemed to slow down as she tried to quickly gain her footing. Quickly try to stop Briggs from continuing his idiocy. As she turned, a jolt ran through her body.

There was a crackle in the air. The atmosphere grew thick. Purple light flooded the hall.

“Oh, no…” She gasped. A cold chill came over her. Her entire body screamed for her to run.

Briggs fist was mere inches away from Zhang’s face. Straining against a purple force, a psionic force. All emanating from Zhang.

“DO. YOU. THINK.” Zhang said through gritted teeth, placing a hand on his chest. His eyes bloodshot, glowing brightly. His lips contorted into a snarl. The psionic light grew brighter and brighter, as wisps of energy flowed from him.

“DO YOU THINK I ASKED FOR THESE POWERS!?” He snapped.

That energy of his spiked again. Briggs cried out in pain as his fist was being pushed back.

“ARGH!”

The next second, a tendril of psionic energy struck Briggs, launching the meathead into the air and down the hall like a rag doll.

“DO. YOU. _THINK_!?”

There was an audible snap. The sound of metal pieces clattering to the floor. Zhang let out a cry of pain as he dropped to his knees. Eyes tightly closed. Hands clenching his head. Fingers clawing at his skull. That dampener was dead.

The world was spiraling, becoming a blur to his eyes and ears. He didn’t hear Kim yelling his name. Nor the alarms going off. The Base AI announcing there was “Unauthorized usage of psionics at a dangerous level.” It was all washed out.

_“Show us where you are.”_

_“Show us where you are.”_

_“Show us where you are.”_

But the voices of the Elders were defening.

_“Show us the Commander.”_

_“Show us the Commander.”_

_“Show us the Commander.”_

Never stopping.

_“We will heal your friend.”_

_“We will heal your friend.”_

_“We will heal your friend.”_

Never ending.

Just as he felt like his mind was about to break, about to be consumed by the madness, a sudden stillness fell upon him.

“Leave him.” A stern voice said.

Warm fingers touched his head. A force pushed back the madness in his mind. It felt familiar to him.

“Leave him you vile creatures.” The voice spoke again. “He will not be your thrall.”

The Elders hissed. “NO!” They tried to tighten their grip, but were being pushed away.

Who was this person helping him?

A moment of clarity. A moment to perceive the world around him; Zhang opened his eyes. Kneeling in front him, was a man. Dressed like the rest of the soldiers at the base. Yet. His eyes were bathed in psionic energy.

“G—Geist?” He felt like he recognized him. The man smiled. It was him, he recognized that smile.

Geist. raised his other hand.

“Sleep.”

He pressed a finger to the center of Zhang’s forehead.

And like that, Zhang was out cold. The psionic outburst quickly extinguished.

The world was quiet. His mind was his once more.

————————————

As the memory faded, Zhang came to the surface again. This time no sputtering. No gasping for air.

He wiped the water from his face and rested his arms against the riverbank. Partially pulling himself out of the water.

“What a hell of a day that was.” He let out an exasperated sigh. “Who knows what would have happened if he hadn’t showed up. Geist.” He shook his head and chuckled. “But I’m thankful he did. Oh, so thankful.” He knew he would have never recovered without Geist’s help. “And him taking over my treatments… oddly wise beyond his years for someone his age.”

He did find the soldier to be a bit quirky at times. Having his odd habits as he mentored the other psionics. “Had to be the psionics,” he shook his head, ”I remember you telling me they ‘enlightened’ you.”

He couldn’t help but laugh at that. But the laugh slowly disappeared when as his mind shifted back to the cause of his psionics spiraling once more.

“Still never understood Briggs’ issue with me.” He grumbled. That soldier’s attitude stumped him. When he first “joined” XCOM, Zhang had no issues with Briggs. When rumors floated about of how Zhang joined and how he once worked for, Briggs kept his distance and kept conversations with him short.

“Guess he doesn’t like the criminal type.” He huffed. “Triad with a _conscious_.” How he heard that far too often. “Even criminals _can_ have standards.” He pulled on his beard. Still a strange thing for him. “Mine became more _refined_ as I grew wiser.”

“Ticked off one boss for killing some slave traffickers.” He grinned a little. “Knew exactly what my reaction would be if that group was moving children, but sent me anyway. His damn _mistake_.” The grin grew wider.

“Learned never to send me on a job like that again.” A brief chuckle turned into a grim laugh. “ May have made him think of never dabbling in that market again. Stick to the gunrunning, black market artifacts, and protection rackets.”

“But all of that wouldn’t matter to a brutish mind like Briggs.” His mind wandered back to that memory. He pulled on his beard some more as he tried to think of why that solider hated him so much.

“Thinking about it,” he muttered, “his issue with me truly started when Akemi started trying to befriend me.”Part of him was still surprised that Akemi tried to befriend him. Nothing he did deterred her. He was glad she was stubborn.

“Never took him for the jealous type, though I was and still am far too old for Akemi. Old enough to be her dad.” He shook his head. “Then again, I never saw him trying to flirt with her… had to be something else.”

He mumbled and grumbled as he searched the deep depths of his memories for anything that could be the answer. Stories? Perhaps rumors that he heard?

His eyes went wide. “Oh, you have to be kidding me.” He remembered something. A rumor he had heard.

“If that _numbskull_ thought I was a hitman sent to take out Akemi because of something her _father_ did, that is beyond idiotic conspiracy theorist!” With his palm, he smacked his head a few times. “What sort of logic is that?” That one rumor never made sense to him. “Would have been a suicide mission…”

Supposedly Akemi’s father once had dealings with the Triad but turned “traitor” and quickly went on the run with his family. Zhang didn’t believe it for a moment, but part of him wandered. But he never asked Akemi. That would have been too personal. “Hope you’re still alive.” He muttered.

“But now I see why the Commander chewed him out so badly that day.” He slowly pushed himself away from the river bank andfloated on his back.His eyes transfixed on the sky once more. There were a few clouds now. Thin and wispy.

“Still wish I could have heard it all.” He laughed. “Seen his face. I saw the _aftermath._ ”

He closed his eyes for a moment. Thinking back on that moment. Him walking about the base after one of his treatments. Him being called up to the Commander’s office to finally have _the_ talk. Just catching the tail end of her reprimanding Briggs. He had never heard her so angry.

_SSH SSH_

His eyes flew open in an instant. He quickly righted himself and looked around.

_SSH SSH_

A stiff breeze greeted his face.

_SSH SSH_

The sounds of leaves rustling greeted his ear.

“Hmm.” He slowly let himself sink under the waters. “Could have sworn I heard someone. _Felt_ someone.” He still looked around. Carefully eying the trees. Looking for a sign anyone was there. He knew it wasn’t Dimitri. He could still detect his presence nearby, and the man was keeping his word by giving him privacy.

“ _Perhaps I’m being paranoid._ ” He thought.

Back under the waters, he continued the routine. Releasing his psionics. Returning back to that memory leading up with his talk with the Commander. The start of Geist taking over his treatments.

What a time that was.


	8. Feedback pt. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few more memories to dwell on. How his psionics got back under control.

His little meditation routine continued. Psionics seeping out once more as he dwelled on past memories.

What happened after he lost control a second time.

———

Zhang was in and out of consciousness for the week. His body trying to recover from the psionic outburst. His psionics that were stronger than before. Seemed as there was nothing the doctors nor scientists could do to help his condition. In truth, some of the treatments made it worse. His psionics were burning through the dampeners quicker than they could develop a stronger one.

Just when Zhang thought he would be stuck down in the Psionic Labs forever, along came that promising psionic. His savior from that awful day.

_Geist_. That young, bright-eyed soldier. An oddly powerful psionic. One who had been petitioning the Commander for months to create a training grounds of sorts for the psionics. Allow _him_ to train them. Somehow, whether through “sweet” words or psionic trickery, he swayed the Commander. Construction on the training ground began and once completed, Geist showed how valuable an asset he was.

Through his guidance, he wrangled the darker thoughts, the darker aspects of psionics, that had seeped into all those that were gifted. _They_ would control the psionics. The psionics would not control them. This power belonged to humanity and the Earth.

Oh, how Zhang had to thank him twice over. One, for being there, somehow showing up just as his powers were about to spiral out of control again after his spat with Briggs. Two, for taking over his treatments to wrangle his psionics back into control.

And did he take over the treatments once he knew the full story of Zhang’s condition.

He completely changed them, coming up with his own treatment plans to solve the issue. Zhang hated him at first. He could tolerate their training sessions before the incident, but now this? How much he was around. Did he ever sleep? The questions he would ask. The constant stress tests to see what his new psionic limit was. What his body’s new limit was. Wasn’t he supposed to be helping him and not making it worse?

But Zhang eventually saw the bigger picture as his treatment methods expanded. Geist had to see how much he could handle before he could help him get his psionics back under control. Back under control with benefits. Geist had taken note that his powers were evolving.

Sensory deprivation via isolation tank became Zhang’s primary treatment. Zhang wasn’t fond of it at first; it was strange. Floating in pitch black _nothingness_. Something about it made him anxious. And then there was this _music_ Geist insisted he must listen. To “strengthen” his mind. More like give him a splitting headache and cause his anxiety to spike even more. But he eventually grew to enjoy the isolation tank. The cool waters. The darkness. The _silence_. It let him step away from the world, from judging eyes and minds. Ever since the first incident, he felt even more like an outcast at XCOM.

————————————

Floating in a pitch-black void. The incessant drumming of electronic music pulsing through the waters. The chill waters biting into his skin. Yet, the warming embrace of his psionic energies keeping him content.

It was just another afternoon, another session in the isolation tank for Zhang. How he had come to enjoy these sessions. Especially after a strenuous training session with Geist earlier in the day. How his aching muscles — and mind — loved the chilly waters.

_SHZZZZT_

A grimace formed on his face as the harsh sound of static and the sound of a “station” changing filled his ears. His psionics disrupted for a moment.He could deal without the music.

_“Hmm…_ Newjack.”

But it had slowly grown on him. He had memorized the hundreds if not thousands of tracks in the playlist they had put together for him. He never thought in his life that he would like that genre of music and those similar to it.

He took a moment to refocus his mind after the minor disturbance. Refocus his psionics. The wisps of energy tightened around his body. He curled inward on himself.

“They are mine to control.”

He repeated this phrase in his head. A phrase Geist had hammered into him and the other psionics. A phrase he had taken to heart after the second incident.

“Those Ethereals. Those _Elders_ do not control it. It is not a ‘gift’ from them.”

His second encounter with those beings still bothered him. They were like a nest of vipers. They spoke sweet words, but he could tell they were all lies. Why promise to spare the world now when they struck first? After all they had done?

“Lies.”

He saw the fruits of their work. The unfortunate civilians they had abducted. Young and old in those surgeries and pods. Experimented on. Twisted beyond recognition. It disgusted him deeply.

“They are here to suit their own ends. Humanity is nothing but cattle to them. Like the rest of the forces they employ.”

That was something he and Geist had agreed on, in their private discussions. Once Geist had pried from his lips that they had contacted him. Zhang was far too afraid to tell anyone that. Especially the Psionics Lab team after the first incident. He was tired of being probed and prodded. He felt like sharing that tidbit of information would make his treatments more invasive.

But that young soldier eased Zhang’s fears. Promising he wouldn’t tell a soul about the contact. As they had contacted him, too. Truthfully, they still tried too. But Geist ignored their calls, their _pleas_ to try to sway him. To be pulled into their fold. He didn’t believe their words for a moment.

That was a shock to Zhang. He wondered how Geist put up with their voices. They were a legion, unrelenting when they spoke.

In time, Geist showed Zhang how to block out their calls whenever they tried to reach out. How to keep them from getting a single claw in one’s mind. And Zhang was very thankful.

“Young one.” A faint whisper tickled the back of his skull.

It didn’t take long for the Elders to try reaching out to him again. Especially when he was meditating.

“Oh, young one.” The whisper grew more.

The hairs on his neck raised. His lips turned to a grimace. He _hated_ them.

“Oh, _you_.”

His fingers twitched. The wisps of energy around him formed into several orbs. _Concentrate_.

“Where are you, oh young one?” Another whisper joined. The chorus slowly started.

Zhang took in a deep breath, letting out a sharp exhale a moment later. His eyes opened. “No.”

A mere thought, the whispers let out a cry of pain. The chorus quickly dissipating. They would not get a foothold.

“Young one!” They cried out in desperation. “Do not push us away!”

“No.” Another thought, another cry of pain from them. “I will not listen to your lies.”

They continued to call out, plead with him not to cut them off. But he ignored them. He would not give them his time.

A few more thoughts until the whispers faded. Zhang took in another sharp breath and let out a sigh of relief. He closed his eyes.The orbs dissipated back to mere wisps of energy. Slowly encircling him again as he uncurled himself. Letting himself float freely once more. _Peace_.

Then the tank shuddered. The music cut out.

“Time’s up, Zhang.”

He let out a groan. How he wanted to spend just a bit more time in the tank.

He quickly righted himself as the water drained away, retracting his psionics. As the water drained past his head, he worked to undo his oxygen mask. His ears twitched as he heard the lock come undone. A hint of light peeked through the cracks.

“Oh, right.”

He quickly shielded his eyes as the latch was opened further. Blinding light flooded the tank.

“How was the float?~” A female voice sang.

One hand still covering his face, he handed off the oxygen mask to whoever was at the opening. “Peachy, Yvonne.” He said through gritted teeth.

“Oh, you sound testy.~” She chuckled. She took the mask. “But you know the time limits!”

He grumbled.

It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the light, but as soon as they did, he was climbing out of the tank. Just to the left of him was Yvonne, the newest assistant for the Psionics Labs. She was holding a towel for him.

“Thank you.” The tenseness in his voice disappeared. He took the towel and dried himself.

“Welcome!” She hummed. “Uniform is over on the bench. See you in the main room!” She quickly left to give him some privacy.

Watching her quickly leave made him chuckle. “Modest sort.”

Once he got himself dry, he headed over to where his uniform and got dressed.

—————

As the memory faded, he surfaced once more. Muttering and chuckling.

“Geist’s methods were… something.”

He almost could hear one of the songs playing in his head. That harsh, and mostly instrumental, electronic music tickling the back of his skull. He missed it.

“To think I grew to _like_ those songs.” He laughed. “I wonder if I can find a music player?” The idea was absurd. Even if he found one scattered in some old, ruined house and found a way to charge it. Where would he get the music? Especially the ones he liked? ADVENT had confiscated, censored, and banned a majority of Earth’s music and other media. Too dangerous for the masses.

“The music, the MEDIA, of the Old Word can lead to thoughts of declension and destroy the very peace, the Elders so carefully, so LOVINGLY brought to the Earth and her peoples.” He couldn’t help but speak in the tone the Speaker used. That two-faced snake.“Bah, they just wanted complete control. Corrupt as any other government.”

“But there are probably some media pirates out there.” He chuckled. “How I kept some of my sanity while working for them. Though being higher up, they allowed for some ‘indulgences’ of the Old World.”

“If I’m not killed when I return to camp,” he grumbled just thinking about _that_ , “perhaps I can come across a music player. Scouting? Black markets? Who knows?”

He raised his hands above the waters and tested his psionics once more.“Familiar yet strange.” He muttered. “Definitely changing. Growing stronger.”

That worried him.

“Hopefully, I can require a music player sooner than later… rather not have to wear those dampeners.”

He grumbled.

“ _Really_ don’t want to wear those.”

He slipped under the waters and returned to the memories.

—————

“Must I still wear _that_?”

Zhang was in the main room chatting with the doctors and scientists. Everything was in the green for him now. No random psionic spikes or outbursts. No actual need to wear the dampeners anymore. His powers were back under-control for the most part. Just a few more sessions with Geist and he would be back in the field.

Yet, in front of him, in Yvonne’s hands, was dampening collar. That painful, oppressive thing. It looked different from all the others he had worn. Still, he didn’t want to wear it.

“Doctor’s orders.” Yvonne raised the collar up, pushing it towards his chest. “Also new regulation put in place by Commander Reeves.”

He grimaced, backing away as it came closer. “ _Really_?”

“Put it on Zhang.” A stern, female voice said. From the corner of his eye, he saw one of the older doctors. Leering from behind her computer. Glasses slightly tilted down.

“Dr. Grace…”

“Quit yer belly-aching and put the darn thing on!” She snapped her fingers. A no nonsense woman. “Doctor’s orders. Commander’s orders. Newer model. Should be less painful. And it’s more meant for tracking your psionic levels.”

Zhang let out a sigh. No use arguing.

He eyed the collar once more before finally taking it from Yvonne. As he put it on, he eyed the young assistant, noticing she was doing her best to stifle a laugh. Yvonne quickly hid her face behind a clipboard.

As he put the collar around his neck, and it snapped into place, he felt that low buzzing in his ears. But that pain… the pain was less. Almost non-existent.

“Huh.” His eyes lit up.

Perhaps they had truly improved on the design.

“See? Better!” Dr. Grace scoffed. She turned her attention back to her computer.

“Right.” Zhang nervously chuckled. He tugged on the collar, adjusting it until it sat just right. “Feels a lot better than the older models.”

“Good.” Short as always. “Just document anything weird that happens for us and R&D.” Such a lovely thing to say.

“Is there anything else to discuss?” He pretended not to hear the last bit. He did not want to imagine the collar doing something odd and causing him problems.

“No. You’re free to go.” She waved him off.

“Okay.”

Zhang rolled his eyes. Sometimes he wondered how the lady worked with others when she could be so abrasive. He made his leave.

“See you next session.~” Yvonne waved. She her singsong voice. It was refreshing.

He smiled. “Have a good day, Yvonne.” He returned the wave as he left.

———

Zhang wandered the halls, his mind wandering on how he would send the rest of his day.

“Not exactly hungry. Jarvis and Kim are on a mission. Still a bit weird in the barracks….”

Though most agreed Briggs was out of line when he attacked Zhang a few weeks ago, people still kept their distance and their interactions with him brief. Not a bother for him.

As he continued to walk, he felt a hitch in his legs causing him to pause.

“Hmm.”

He took a moment, tapping his boots against the ground to shake the feeling. But the muscles kept twitching. He kneeled down and rubbed the muscle. He recognized this pain.

“It has been awhile. Haven’t put these muscles to use in a long time.”

It had a been a month, if not two, since had had done anything truly physical. Anything that allowed him to soar through the air like a bird.

“Hmm.”

His mind wandered for a moment. A grin crept across his face. He got up.

“Perhaps, a run on the Hazard Course? It has been awhile.”

Sounded like a fun idea. Something to keep him occupied until he either had to eat, sleep, or have another training session with Geist.

“Colonel Shaojie Zhang.”

The Base AI announced on the PA System. That caught his attention.

“Huh?” He looked up.

“Your presence is requested in the Commander’s Office. Repeat: Colonel Shaojie Zhang. Your presence is requested in the Commander’s Office. _Immediately_.”

That ranking. That _title._ It still felt foreign to him. He didn’t feel like someone like him deserved it. Especially after his spat with Briggs. Especially after what happened with Akemi.

“The Commander’s office…” He muttered. So she finally wanted to see him.

The AI repeated the phrase a few more times before stopping.

He craned his neck and let out a sigh. He needed to get going. He couldn’t keep the Commander waiting.

“Time to face the reaper.”

He wondered what his fate would be.

————

The Nerve Center. That Holo-globe. Always an interesting sight when passing through the room. All the workings going, keeping the show running. Especially the various operations being run back to back a majority of the time. But no time to be distracted. Zhang had places to be.

As he was heading up the stairs, his ear twitched. Was that yelling he heard?

“YOUR EXC— IS A SHIT —ANOID CONSP— —ORY.”

“Is that the Commander?” Zhang mumbled as he came closer to the office. Trying to make out the voice. He had rarely seen her angry. He had seen her disappointed and fairly testing several times. But angry like the bits and pieces he was hearing? Very rare. Especially the cursing.

“But, Commander Ree—

“SHUT THE HELL UP BRIGGS. I DON’T WANT TO HEAR ANY MORE OF YOUR EXCUSES”

“That’s her.” He recognized the yelling. He frowned, hearing the other voice. ”I swear I thought he got reprimanded shortly after that spat.”

“YOUR DEMOTED! STRIPPED OF YOUR MEDALS! GET YOUR THINGS PACKED! YOU ARE GOING TO THE AUSSIE BASE! YOU ARE OUT OF HERE LIEUTENANT BRIGGS! GET THE HELL OUT OF MY SIGHT!”

How he wished to be a fly on the wall in the office. To see Briggs’ face. The vitriol coming from the Commander. He couldn’t help but imagine.

He softly chuckled. And grinned.

The office door flew open with a heavy thud. It was Briggs. Head down, jaw and fists clinched. He was fuming. He was grumbling under his breath until he just happened to look up. He froze.

“ _You_.” A sharp growl came from Briggs.

Zhang’s grin shifted to a smirk. “Greetings.” He said somewhat in a sassy tone. Sometimes he wasn’t above it all.

“You f—”

“Don’t even think about it, Briggs.” Just inside the doorway was Central Officer Bradford. Ready to pounce if he tried anything.

Zhang quickly dropped the smirk when he heard Central’s voice. He stepped aside to give Briggs room to pass. Last thing he needed was to get into trouble just before talking to the Commander.

Briggs glanced over his shoulder, looking at Central for a moment, and then looked back towards Zhang. He grumbled once more before he started moving again. As he passed Zhang, he gave him a harsh glare even holding it while he went down the stairs. Seems like he had a shred of sense not to start a fight.

“ _Oh, to have heard that conversation._ ” Zhang thought. The grin slowly returned.

“You can come in Zhang.” Central said.

“Hmm?” Zhang turned, partially drawn from his thoughts.

“Get in here, soldier.” Central beckoned for him to enter the room.

He nodded and made his way over.

“Time to face the _reaper_.” He mumbled to himself.

————

The Commander’s office was the same from the last time he was there. Well, it looked to be decorated more than usual. Gifts from the various nations and peoples, XCOM had assisted during the war was every. And there was a lot of paperwork spilling off her desk.

“Commander Reeves.” Zhang greeted her before taking his seat.

“Hmm…” A brief and gruff reply came from the Commander. She wasn’t exactly paying attention to him.

Fingers running through her disheveled hair, her attention was firmly locked onto her computer screen. Her other hand was typing furiously. She looked stressed, with a mixture of anger and disappointment.

Zhang grew curious. Exactly how did her talk with Briggs play out that left her in such a state? She was more refined than this. But he knew he couldn’t ask that. All he could do was wait for her to acknowledge his presence before their conversation would begin.

A few more minutes of furious typing and rifling through paper work before the Commander let out a loud, disgruntled sigh. She turned her monitor off, before taking a moment to breathe.

“Bradford, what is my schedule for the rest of the day?” She finally spoke, but it was towards Central. She was looking at him, not acknowledging Zhang.

“You have a meeting with the Council in four hours, Dr. Shen requests your presence down in the Foundry within the hour if possible, and you have a meeting with Military Advisor Murdok. Quick notes, Murdok made it safely to the Australian base and training of the recruits there is going fine.” Central rattled off as he was going through his tablet.

“Glad to hear something positive… finally.” She grumbled. She rubbed her temples. She mumbled and grumbled for a moment. “Tell the kitchen crew, specifically Chef Raz, to get a lot of chicken brined and the ingredients to gumbo all prepped.”

“Oh!” Central looked up. A twinkle in his eyes. “Thinking of making a special meal for the troops after the recovery operation?” He sounded excited.

“That and I just be need’n ta blow off some darn steam.” A slight accent slipped out.

“Heh.” Central chuckled. “That Cajun side in of you is slipping out.”

The Commander shook her head and laughed. “Happens from time ta time. _Cher_.”

Both of them laughed.

As the laughing died down, the Commander took a moment to clean up her desk. Even if it was a tiny bit of cleaning

Neatly stacking a sea of papers and fixing some over turned pen holders. With a little semblance of order, she let out a resigned sigh before folding her hands.

“Sorry about that Shaojie… or do you want me to call you Zhang?” She finally spoke to him. “Things have been rather… stressful, as of late.”

“Either is fine.” Zhang wasn’t picky. “That’s entirely understandable for your position, Commander.” He nodded. He could barely imagine the amount of pressure she was constantly under.

“Still doesn’t excuse my lack of order nor manners.” She shook her head. “Even when reaching one of my many breaking points, I still should have some semblance of order.” She grumbled under her breath.

“It’s still understandable.” That was all he could say.

The Commander took her eyes off of him for a moment and turned her monitor back on and typed away at the keyboard.

“There we go.” She mumbled before turning back to look at Zhang.

“So,” she clapped her hands, putting on a smile, “how are the treatments going?”

Zhang raised a brow. Not the first question he was expecting. Nor the sudden smile. “They’re going just fine.”

“No anomalies?”

“None, minus the fatigue and… annoyance from some tests. Especially Geist’s tests and training.” He couldn’t lie. Sometimes the tests and training could be taxing to all his senses. “Geist says a few more sessions and I should be ready to enter the field once again.”

“Right, right Geist. Good, good.” She nodded. “Took over and _completely_ reworked your treatments.” She mumbled and took a quick look at her monitor. “He has you and the other psionic soldiers on a strict training schedule.”

“Very strict.” A slight grimace appeared on his face.

She held back a snicker. “But it’s been effective, hasn’t it?”

He nodded. “Quite. My psionics are back under control. No need for the dampeners, though…” he tugged at the collar on his neck. “I’m still required to wear one on base.”

“Good to hear and sorry about that.” She said. “I’ve made it a new rule for all psionic users to wear the collars while on base. A mixture of safety precautions and to track psionic activity.”

“It’s understandable.” Though he hated the collars, he understood the reasoning. Last thing they needed was another incident like his happening at the base.

  


“So…” The Commander’s eyes wandered about before looking at him again. “How are you doing?”

“Pardon?” Another brow raised by Zhang. He felt like the initial question about his treatments answered that.

“How are you doing outside the treatments?” She explained. “Like are you doing fine? Okay? Not great? Etc.”

“Ah.” He nodded. “I’m doing fine, Commander.” He answered plainly.

“How are you _really_ doing?” The tone of her voice slightly shifted. Like she didn’t believe him.

“I’m doing just fine.” He repeated himself once more.

“Zhang,”a hint of annoyance peaked through, “we have coped you up in the base for over a month if not two, you have been subject to constant rounds of testing, and now your training sessions with Geist have been taxing.” She carefully studied him for the slightest tell. So far, nothing. “And we haven’t even talked about the incident that started the whole mess. So I doubt you are doing just _fine_.” There was a slight grimace on his face at the mention of that. Finally, a crack in that mask of his. 

“I’m doing… just _fine_.” Zhang did his best not to talk through gritted teeth.

“Zhang.” The Commander growled.

“I’m _fine_.”

The Commander kept her eyes on him for a bit longer. The grimace didn’t fully disappear and there was a look in his eyes. Anger and sadness. Even behind that mask of his, that incident with Akemi was still weighing on him. She hadn’t been able to have a proper discussion about the incident and him disobeying orders. She was still mildly peeved about that day.

“ _Still surprised he did that_.” She thought. She closed her eyes as she remembered that day.

That usual calm and collected Zhang she had grown accustomed to, disappeared so quickly when Akemi was in danger. She had learned the two had grown close but hadn’t realized it was that close. A sort of uncle and niece relationship had blossomed.

“Hmm.” She grumbled.

He still deserved a reprimanding with how he disobeyed orders and put everyone else at risk. Yet, his little stunt that day did benefit them. Akemi survived, though severely injured. They were able to recover the VIP. And they recovered corpses of the new aliens the opposition was fielding; how the research teams had a field day when the bodies arrived. And then Zhang’s psionics going haywire led to a few recent discoveries for the Psi Labs research teams.

“ _But how to get him to talk?_ ” The Commander rested her elbows on her desk. She opened her eyes and refocused on Zhang. He was looking away. Most of that grimace was gone, but his fingers were clawing into the armrests of the chair.

She frowned at that. What to do? _What to do?_

“Ah!” An idea popped in her head.

She looked at Central, made a quick click with her mouth, and made a quick gesture with her hand.

He quickly nodded and made him scarce. Their own little language.

Once he was gone, the Commander cleared her throat. That grabbed Zhang’s attention. The Commander drummed her fingers on the desk as she looked around. Still thinking.

“Zhang.” The Commander spoke. She paused once more. Her mouth searching for the right words. “>I am actually… concerned for… your well being.”

Zhang’s eyes lit up. Were his ears deceiving him? Was she speaking Mandarin?

“>How are… you really… doing?<“ She spoke in a stilted manner. Almost unsure if she was saying the right words.

His ears weren’t deceiving him. “>Y-You know my language?<“

The Commander raised her hand, holding two fingers close together. >”I’m fairly… rusty. Really understand it better… than I can speak it.<“

That surprised Zhang. Just how many languages did she understand? And how many did she speak?

“>So… how are you… really doing?<“

“>Um…<“

He was speechless. _Surprised_. Though her speech was very stilted, she sounded fairly good for someone that was supposedly rusty. He wondered if she ever overheard him when he was talking to himself. Venting out his thoughts and _grievances_. Or his conversations with his handler on the Council. He chewed on his lip nervously.

He studied her carefully. She looked concerned, truly concerned. The annoyance from his refusal to talk earlier was gone. Just genuine concern. He sighed.

“>“Really, I’ve been fine Commander, but…” He paused.

“>But?<”

“>The incident has been on my mind, a lot. Akemi has been on my mind. What I did that day was _inexcusable_.<”

“>Zhang—<“

“>No Commander,<” he cut her off, “>I disobeyed your orders. I stepped out of line to ‘save’ a squad mate, which nearly cost us the mission.<” He sighed. “> _Saved_ …<” He scoffed at himself. He barely saved Akemi. Probably gave her a fate worse than death. He looked away from the Commander. “By all means I believe I should not have my ‘Colonel’ ranking.“ He switched back to English, feeling that would be better for her.

As he turned back to look at her, he was expecting an annoyed face after cutting her off. Instead, he was greeted by a rather amused look. Both of her brows raised and the corners of her mouth twitching.

“Are you, are you always this hard on yourself?” The Commander sounded like she was trying to stifle a laugh.

“Pardon?”

“You heard me.” She shook her head, letting out a chuckle. “You are such a puzzle. Every single time I think I have you figured out, you show me a new side of yourself.”

“Uh…” He wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or insult. Possible both?

“Am I still disappointed, a bit _peeved_ with the brash decision you made that day? Yes.” She admitted. “Should you get some sort of punishment? Yes, but…”

“But?”

“You’ve been through enough hell with your psionics going haywire _twice_. And then the _guilt_ from that operation going sour. That’s punishment enough.” She shook her head.

“You can’t be serious Commander.” Her words bewildered him.

“I am quite serious.” She firmly said.“You’ve been through hell for over a month, and then Geist has been putting your through even more hell with all that training. I don’t think me stripping you of you ranking nor medals will top that.”

“You _can’t_ be serious.” He repeated. He felt like he was hallucinating. 

“I am.” She cracked a smile. “My only order is just don’t repeat that same stunt again.”

But he wasn’t hallucinating. The glimmer in her eyes. That little smile. Everything she was saying was sincere. Maybe he was being too hard on himself. He usually was. He tended to be overly critical of his actions, a bad habit of his made slightly worse since he “joined” XCOM as he felt like he was on a fairly short leash compared to his old bosses “ _Don’t bite the hand that feeds you_.” He shook his head and chuckled at the thought. He had to admit, the Commander had grown less critical of him as the months passed. Perhaps he should do the same towards himself?

He chuckled and shook his head again.

“I’ll do my best not to repeat that mistake.” He helped something like that would never happen again.

“Good.” The Commander smiled. “Really don’t want to deal with that psionic mess again.” Though the smile slipped away as she let out an exasperated sigh. “Dr. Vahlen has become rather _excitable_ from all the recent discoveries.” She loved the doctor’s enthusiasm, but some days she could go overboard.

“I rather not become a guinea pig again.” He wasn’t sure if he hated the testing more than Geist’s training. “The constant poking, prodding, and scanning nearly drove me mad.” He hated the testing more.

The two laughed. Understanding of each other’s pain.

Though Zhang’s laughing slowly changed to nervous chuckling as a particular thought crossed his mind. His Council handler.

“I have a question, Commander.” Zhang asked.

“Yes?”

“Since you understand Mandarin…” His nervous chuckling continued. “I take it you’ve understood the conversations between me and my handler on the council. Right?”

“Yes.” She nodded.

He tugged on his collar. “Especially that one conversation a few weeks prior to the operation incident. Right?”

She grinned and nodded. “Every single word.”

He winced and grimaced. “Commander I am—”

“Hey!” She raised a finger. “You are in no way responsible for what she said about me.” She laughed. “Really, I’m thankful that you defending me after the comments she made about my ‘leadership’ and if the ‘leader monkey’ was running a ‘circus’.” She could still remember how calm Zhang was one moment and completely offended and flustered the next. One of the few times she witnesses his anger getting the best of him.

He looked away and sighed. “I still should have translated what she said once the meeting was over…”

“Zhang, don’t beat yourself up over that.” She shook her head.“Besides,” she grinned, “I plan on surprising her during the next meeting.”

He smirked at that. He wanted to be there to see his handler’s reaction.

The door creaked open.

“Commander.” It was Central. He poked his head in. “Geist is here.”

“Huh. That’s sooner than expected.” She said. “Have him come in.”

“Geist?” Zhang mumbled. He wondered why he was here. Curious, he turned to see him.

A moment later the door fully opened and Central lead that young solider in. Geist was wearing one of the prototype psi armors, helmet tucked firmly under his arm. He had personalized his armor to be yellow with black accents. But there was something different about the armor that Zhang couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

“Sorry for the early intrusion, Commander.” Geist apologized. “But the armor and weapons testing concluded much earlier than we thought.” He waved at Zhang.

“How did it go?” She asked.

“Fairly well, the armor is amplifying my psionics as expected.”

“The weapons part?”

Geist raised his free arm, showing off a gauntlet. Many wires were running from the armor to it. With some concentration, that familiar psionic energy flowed around it. With a flick of his wrist, what could be described as a blade made of psionic energy sprung forth. It shined brightly before the gauntlet sparked like mad. Geist cut off the flow of energy and the blade quickly dissipated.

“Interesting.” Zhang couldn’t help but comment. Looks like they were looking into close combat tactics.

“As you can see, the prototype is working, but the energy output is still unstable.” Geist lowered his arm.

“Hmm.” The Commander drummed her fingers on her desk. “Hopefully that issue can be worked out soon.”

“All in due time, Commander.” He smiled. “R&D are already hard at work.”

“Mm hm.” She nodded. She gestured for him to come over. “How’s your selection for candidates for the new division?”

“Slow but the few I have selected are looking to be promising ma’am.”

“Good to hear. May have to look into expanding the Psi Labs soon so testing can go faster.”

“I would like that.”

As Geist came over, Zhang turned back to face the Commander. As he did Zhang, his eyes went wide. There was something odd happening before his eyes. Was he seeing things?

There was this strange aura around her, blue wisps of energy flowing from her. He blinked a few times, but what he was seeing was still there.

“You okay, Zhang?” The Commander caught the odd look he was giving her.

“Huh?” He snapped to,noticing her puzzled look. “No, yes! I’m fine.” A quick little lie. But he wasn’t. Something about that aura perturbed him. Like there was some psionic force around the Commander. A strong psionic force. Why was he picking up on that now?

“Are you sure?” She could pick up something was wrong.

“I’m fine.” He stated again. Slipping back into that scripted side of him. He nearly jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked over. It was Geist.

“I think he just remembered a training session I have planned later for him.” The young solider smiled. From the corner of his eye, he winked at Zhang.

“Right… _that_ …” Zhang nodded. Though he raised a brow at that wink.

The Commander studied the two for a moment. That cheshire smile from Geist. And a plain, yet serious face from Zhang. Something was up. “Uh huh.”She didn’t quite believe them, but she would not push it.

“Well,” she looked back at Geist, “keep me posted on all further development with your ‘Templar’ project and then that psionic activity you’ve been picking up.”

“I will do just that, Commander.” He nodded.

“And keep Zhang in line” She just had to tease a bit. “No more psionic incidents please.”

“Oh, I don’t think he wants that happening.” Geist heartily smacked Zhang’s shoulder a few times, causing the man to flinch with each hit. “I’ll make our training sessions more hellish for him if he causes trouble.”

“Good.”

“Har, har, har.” Zhang dryly laughed. Like he planned to cause any trouble.

“Well, you both are free to go.” She waved the two off. “And I need to clean myself up before going to see Dr. Shen.” She grumbled, catching sight of her disheveled hair in the reflection of the monitor. She started to undo her braid bun.

“Well, Zhang. Shall we go?” Geist patted his shoulder a few more times.

“Stop that.” Zhang swatted his hand away as he got up. He shook his head at Geist’s little smirk. “Let’s go.”

The two left the Commander’s office.

———

The two walked down the halls in silence. Both engrossed by their thoughts.

Zhang was still processing how his talk with the Commander went. He still expected her to tear into him, to punish him in some manner, but that didn’t happen. He still felt like he should have been punished for his bullheadedness. His old bosses would have done so.

“Still haven’t shed all that overconfidence from my youth.” He mumbled. Subconsciously, his hand drifted up to his face, lightly tracing the scars on his check and eye. A mild grumbled slipped out as he remembered how he got those. Nearly lost his half his face doing one job. He got the job done, but made a mess of it and nearly got the cops involved. He quickly learned to shape up and not step out of line. He was lucky he didn’t die that day. He was even more lucky his boss didn’t kill him that day. Still wasn’t sure why.

“Mao. Mao Jiang.” He muttered that name. Probably the worst person he ever worked for. Loved to torture a little before executing those who failed him. His tongue rubbed against the inside of his check. That scar ran deep. “Recovering from nearly having half my face blown off, and he decides to ram a knife into my cheek.” Another mutter.

He didn’t shed a tear when Mao was assassinated. He was glad the sick man was dead.“Still surprised I didn’t lose my eye. Nor did Mao take my eye.” He mumbled, shaking his head.

“Though that is how I took an interest in explosives. And Tinker took me under his wing.” A brief grin and soft chuckle. He knew the Commander was still trying to figure out _why_ he was well versed with explosives and heavy weapons. He wouldn’t tell her yet. He wanted her to keep guessing.

But was thankful the Commander wasn’t as unforgiving as his old bosses. She had her own harsh ways of discipline for sure, frightening ways, but at least the threat of death wasn’t always a constant. Though he rarely feared death. The thought of it was comforting.

He couldn’t help but chuckle.

“ _Hard to believe we’re finally understanding each other… mostly._ ” He thought to himself. That still surprised part of him. The initial distrust she had towards him had waned, though she still had her moments. She could see how was committed to the cause and wasn’t just trying to save his own skin. He chuckled again.

“Psionics.” Geist broke the silence. Zhang looked over at him. “Such a fickle thing. Immense, near limitless power. Tricky to master. Even more so when they can grow and evolve.” He had his hand raised, creating a purple sphere in his palm.

Zhang raised a brow. He observed the orb. Where was he going with this?

Geist kept the orb going for a little longer before letting it dissipate. Watching the energy turn to wisps and disappear into the air.

He paused in his tracks, which made Zhang stop too. “You saw it, didn’t you?” He turned to face Zhang. There was a glimmer in his eye.

“Saw _what_?” Zhang didn’t like that look. Usual meant he was about to get philosophical.

“You saw _it_.” He gestured around himself, making a wide sweeping arch with his arms. “That aura around the Commander?”

“Ah.” Zhang nodded, “Yes, I noticed the blue aura around her for a moment.” “Exactly what is _it_?” Then it clicked. Why he had winked at him earlier.“Is that why—”

“Yes. Didn’t want her to pick up on you noticing.” He swiftly nodded. “I’m still trying to figure out that out, but there is a psionic presence around her.”

“Psionic presence?” Zhang questioned. “Is the Commander a latent psionic?”

“Possibly,” He hemmed and hawed, “not entirely sure without testing, but she doesn’t have the time for testing. But what ever is around her is psionic and… benevolent.”

“Benevolent?”

“It’s presence reminds me of those Ethereals, those Elders,” he paused, catching himself hiss their name, “but its presence is benevolent compared to their malevolence.”

“ _W-w-WHAT_.” Zhang couldn’t but raise his voice. All his coolness quickly disappeared. He felt his skin crawl at the mere mention of those cruel beings.

“There’s no need to worry.” Geist seemed oddly calm.

“No need to worry!?” Zhang snapped, getting into his face. “For fuck’s sake Geist, you just said it _reminds_ you of those _bastards_!”

“Zhang. Calm down.” Geist placed a hand on Zhang’s chest and gently pushed him away. “I said the presence is _benevolent_ compared to their malevolence. It’s like a guiding force behind the Commander. And…”

Zhang swatted his hand away but backed off. A frown was firmly planted on his face. “And?”

“Possibly the same thing that saved you the day those Ethereals nearly got their claws around your mind.”

“ _What_?”

“I remember you told me there was another voice you heard that day. A calming voice, yes?”

“Yes.” Zhang made a quick “get on with” gesture. He wasn’t in the mood for a philosophical moment.

“Impatient.” Geist chuckled but soon continued. “A voice telling you to resist. A voice that _empowered_ you to fight back.” He explained. “The same presence I’m detecting in the Commander, I’ve picked up faint traces in you. Remnants of it assisting you.”

“What?” Zhang shook his head. “You’re kidding, right?” He didn’t believe him. “Impossible.”

“I’m not. Let me show you.”

Geist raised his free hand, creating another orb of psionic energy. He carefully brought the orb towards Zhang.

Zhang wondered what he was about to do until his eyes went widened. He felt his body stiffen as a bolt of electricity went up his spine. The next moment, blue wisps of energy flowed from him and towards the orb. Energy similar to that aura he saw around the Commander.

“See now?”

Geist held the energy for a while longer before it all dissipated. Some of that blue energy traveling back towards Zhang.

“Yes, I see.” Zhang sheepishly admitted. He let his hatred towards those Ethereals get the best of him. “You’re not talking out of your head.”

“I rarely am.” Geist smirked.

“Don’t push it.”

He chuckled. “Come on, let’s keep walking.”

As the two started walking again, Geist did his best to explain how and when he would bring his findings to the Commander. Sometime after they catch their latest hunt, he planned on having a private discussion with her. There was a particular energy signature the Hyperwave Relay was picking up. A new kind of UFO and there was a strong psionic signature on it. It was a speedy thing. None of the current Interceptors were equipped to chase it down. But XCOM was working on a way to match its speed. Dr. Shen’s team was already working on tearing apart the numerous alien crafts they had downed over the months and were already working on building their own.

But something about that signature, the new UFO’s fly path, it just didn’t sit right with him.

“It’s almost like those Ethereals want us to catch it.” Geist shook his head. He felt like they were up to something.

“Speaking of those cruel masters.” He looked at Zhang as they continued their walk. “Are they still attempting to contact you?”

Zhang nodded. “Another calling during my sensory deprivation session.” He grimaced. “They’re desperate to find the main HQ and the Commander.”

“Hmm.” Geist scratched his chin. “Truly desperate, they’re trying the same thing with me during my meditations. And same with Yuri, Naomi, and Raziel.” He shook his head. “Something has them frightened.”

“Them? Frightened?” That baffled Zhang. “With their nigh infinite forces?”

“I think they’re worried were putting up more of a fight than they expected, disrupting their plans, and best of all…” He paused, that signature cheshire grin of his appearing, “We are _winning_.”

“Huh.”

“Hey Zhang!” A familiar female voice called out. It made hang freeze in his tracks. “ _Uncle_!” That endearing nickname. Only one person called him that.

He hesitated to look at first, but slowly his head turned toward direction of the voice. It was Akemi. In her infirmary bed. Still hooked up to the various machines, but she was conscious. And look to be doing well. At first he thought he was imagining things until he saw two other people next to her. Jarvis and Kim were visiting her; they must have just come back from their mission as they looked banged up. They all waved at Zhang.

He felt his heart jump into his throat. He took a quick look at his surroundings. They were in the infirmary.

“Geist…” A slight growl exited his lips as he turned to face him. “You did this on purpose, didn’t you?”

“Oh, I don’t know what you’re talking about Zhang.” Geist whistled as he looked away. The next moment he was putting on his helmet and started to walk away. “Find me in one of the psi training rooms within the hour.”

“Geist!” He snarled. But Geist payed him no mind as he left. “There’s a trickster in him.” He grumbled.

“You coming in here or what gramps?” That annoying nickname from Jarvis. “YOWCH!”

“Stop calling him that!” And Kim quickly dealing out the appropriate punishment.

He sighed, dropping his shoulders. He couldn’t pretend not to hear them. He turned and headed over to them.

“Hello guys.” He cleared his throat.“Excuse _that_ outburst.” A little disdain slipped through.

“You’re okay.” Kim shook her head. “That guy’s a weird one.”

“Still amazed your still sane dealing with that guy.” Jarvis rolled his eyes onto to yelp.

“Don’t ruin the mood, Jarvy!” Akemi jabbed him in the stomach again.

“Kemi!” He hopped away to get away from the jabbing.

Zhang couldn’t help but smile. How he missed the group antics.

“So Uncle,” Akemi paused, “how have you been doing?”

“More or less fine.” Zhang answered.

“How about the treatments?”

His eyes went wide. “How do you know about that?”

Akemi quickly pointed at Jarvis and Kim. “They’ve been filling me in for the past few days.”

“Sorry Zhang.” Kim shyly smiled.

“Only thing to get her to shut u—ACK!” Another stomach jab. “STOP THAT!”

Akemi snickered.

“They’ve been good company, unlike _someone_.” She soon glared at Zhang, who nervously chuckled in response. The glare turned into a smirk. “Teasing!” She laughed. “But why haven’t you paid me a visit?”

“Er…” Zhang bit his lip. He looked away. Should he tell her or not?

Akemi’s brows furrowed. She didn’t like that look. She let out a heavy huff. “Don’t tell me you’re still betting yourself up over the incident?”

“Well…” How could he explain?

“Gram—Er _he_ totally did. Guilt fo’ days.” A quick glare from both the ladies made Jarvis chose his words wisely.

“Really?” Akemi’s face dulled as she looked at Jarvis and then back at Zhang. “ _Really_?”

“I nearly killed you!” Zhang quickly explained.

“The _feedback_ from your tussle from with that _Sectoid_ nearly killed me.” She sighed.

“If I didn’t make such a bullheaded decision you wouldn’t be in this mess!” Zhang still felt he was to blame. “I nearly kill—

“Stop it!” Akemi retorted. He quickly shut up. “Seriously, stop that way of thinking.” She let out an exasperated sigh as she tried to gather her thoughts.

“Your quick thinking is the only reason I, and the rest of the team, probably survived that day minus the ‘consequences’.”

“Still, it could have turned out worse.” His mind was still set on the negative.

“ _Uncle_.” She growled. “Stop it. It’s not your fault.”

“Besides.” She raised her hand. Her eyes concentrated on it for a moment as her brow furrowed. He was curious for a moment until he felt a familiar tingle permeate the air. The next moment a purple orb swirled into existence in her palm.

“You’re a psionic?” Zhang gasped, eyes wide.

“I have you to thank for this.” She smiled. She winced, a second later the orb disappeared. “Though the docs and specs say I have to do through that whole testing thing to properly get them working.”

“Huh.” He couldn’t believe through that incident, he accidentally unlocked her psionic potential.

“So stop beating yourself up, Uncle.” She shook her head. “Was already a pain breaking away at that shell of yours.”

Zhang let out a sharp sigh. It was hard for him not to feel guilty, especially still seeing her in the infirmary bed. But he couldn’t beat himself forever. “I’ll try my best.”

She beamed hearing him say that. “Good!”

“Ya knoooooow,” Jarvis interrupted the moment, “exactly how did you get through to mister dark and stoic?”

“Dark and stoic?” Zhang’s brow twitched.

“Oh, that’s a bit of a story.” She laughed.

“Do tell!” He snickered. “I’m all ears.”

“It’s a _long_ story.” Akemi tried her best to get him to stop digging, picking up Zhang’s irritation.

“I have a pack of cards!~” Jarvis sung as he retrieved said object from a pocket. “So you can tell the story and we can play some cards!”

“Oh.. _Joy_.” She didn’t like that.

“A game of cards sounds nice.” Zhang said. He looked at Akemi. “It’s fine if you tell the tale.”

“I triiiied.” She sighed.

“SWEET!” Jarvis quickly fetched some chairs for the three of them to play a game and listen to the story.

“Trying to avoid Geisty boy?” Kim nudged Zhang.

“Perhaps, just a bit.” He smirked. “Just a bit.”

With three chairs fetched, the card game soon began as Akemi told her tale.

“I think it was around the second month of your ‘recruitment’ I finally decided I was going to talk to the new loner everyone was avoiding.” Akemi started off. “I didn’t believe the rumors spreading around that Zhang was a criminal, former Triad, thought it was some sort of hazing ritual.”

“Boy, were you wrong.” Jarvis nudged her.

“ _Very_.”

“And I think that’s the same month we finally had a mission together.” She looked at him.

“Yes, the civilian rescue with that blasted Sectopod.” Zhang nodded.

“Damn was that thing hot on Nightwolf’s tail.” She laughed. “Haven’t seen one get so hyper-focused since that day.”

“Getting your eyes blown out with concentrated laser blast _would_ tick off just about anything.”

“Riiight.” He had a point. “But during that eventful day, we learned we make a pretty good team. I do a little sniper fire for distraction and Zhang rains down the hellfire.”

“A sniper and a heavy sound like an odd combo.” Jarvis commented.

“Ey’ it worked! We took down that hunk of metal.” She laughed.

“Wow.” Jarvis was speechless.

“Impressive. Those things are a pain to fight.” Kim added.

“And little did I know from that day forward, Akemi would start pestering me.” Zhang added.

“You tried his best to shake me off!” Akemi laughed again.

“You were impossible to shake off.” He shook his head. “Like fleas to a dog.”

“Hey!” She took a little offense to that.

“Sorry.” He chuckled. A mischievous grin forming.

“Anyway,” she huffed, “toke some time, but I got through that stone heart of yours.”

“And I’m thankful for it.” Zhang cracked a smile. Something of a rare sight.

“Really thankful for it.”

He truly meant it.

————

As the memories began to wash away, Zhang finally surfaced. He took in a deep breath of air. Fresh. So sweet.

He hung his head back, eyes closed tight, as part of him slipped beneath the waters once more.

“I wonder if you’re still alive, Geist.” He muttered. He straightened himself up. Raising a hand above the waters, he concentrated for a moment. An orb of purple and gold psionic energy form in his palm. Familiar yet strange to him.

“What would you have to say about my psionics now?” He raised his other hand and did the same. So familiar, but strange to his body. “I faintly remember your evolution theory. Psionics growing over time.”

He let out another sharp breath as he continued to try to familiarize himself with this new feeling. It was definitely stronger, but there was something else there. Something new. But he couldn’t figure it out.

He let out a sigh as he let his energy recede. He would have to figure it out in due time. Take it slowly. He didn’t need to stress out his body or risk the chance of his psionics spiraling out of control.

“Don’t have the help of the scientists nor Geist to fix that if that happens.” He grumbled.

“Hm?” Zhang’s head jerked to the side, noticing something in the water. Floating freely down the stream was a bandage. Actually, a stream of bandages, slowly unraveling from him. He couldn’t help but chuckle. Looked like his soak had finally cause them to come apart.

“I think I’ve daydreamed enough. Time to clean up and head back.”

He grabbed the smaller towel and finally started to scrub his body down. He took his time to be careful. Undoing a few of the bandages that still stubbornly clung to his body. And then all this wounds. All those wounds, stitches, and scars. Some areas were still fairly tender to the slightest touch.

“How am I alive?” He questioned that just as he finished. He was pulling himself out of the water. He took a moment to look at his body. He had lost a good chunk of his body mass besides all the other damage his body had gone through. For a moment, he could envision one of the many torture sessions he endured. Hook embedded deeply in his flesh. Back through front. Tearing into those old gene mod ports. Piercing through muscle and bone. _Pulling_ on the muscles and bone. And at times, tearing out chunks of muscle and ligaments.

“I shouldn’t be walking nor moving.” He especially knew that was true for his upper back. He rolled his shoulders. They were fairly stiff.He remembered that’s where most of the hooks were placed.

He shook his head. “Can’t complain. Somehow, I’m still alive.”

He leaned over to get the bigger towel, only to gasp and hunch over.

“Aaaargh…” He hissed. His back muscles were on fire. He found himself stuck, hunched over until the pain subsided. “Well, that was a delayed response to my psionics.” He grumbled. He soon dried himself. As he got back up, he hissed again, but this pain was familiar to him.

“Those muscles.” He knelled down and rubbed his legs. His calf muscles trembled under this touch. “That gene mod is still active, I see.” He chuckled. When was the last time he soared through the air like a bird? He couldn’t remember.

He looked up, over to the trees. Some of those branches looked fairly steady. “Tempting. Oh, so tempting.” He shook his head and chuckled. He knew better. Too high of a chance he would hurt himself.

With his body dry, he finally put on some fresh clothes. Everything was fitting loosely.

“How long will it take me to get my weight back up?” He mumbled as he fiddled with his pants to keep them from falling off. He wondered if there were any other clothes at camp that would fit him better.

_SSH SSH_

As he was fiddling, his ear twitched. The leaves rustled, and it wasn’t just a passing breeze.

_SSH SHH_

“Hmm…”

_SSH SHH HISSS_

That was… different. Something was there. He could feel it. He took a moment to concentrate, but made himself look busy.

_HIIIIIIIIISSSSS_

“I know that sound.” He muttered. He concentrated more. It was definitely hissing. His ears twitched again as he heard what also sounded like insect chittering. “ _Jackal_.”Those two sounds were always with her. Why was she there?

He carefully eyed his surroundings. So far no trace of her, or that chittering “shroud.” But he could tell she was close.

“Hmm.”

How to find her? He wasn’t in the mood to get jumped. Perhaps call her out?

With a bit more fiddling, he managed to get his pants to stay put. He did a quick stretch, feeling his back muscles tightened up on him.

“I know you’re up there…” He paused his stretching for a moment, looking toward the trees. He caught a glimpse of something moving high in the trees. Something smokey. Something _hazy_. He finally spotted that barely visible, undulating mass.

“ _Jackal_.” He said sharply. His ears picked up on more of the faint hissing and chittering. More leaves rustles and a few branches snapping. She was close.

“Show yourself.”

He hoped he wasn’t making a mistake.


	9. A Moment With the Jackal. A Moment of Revelations.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zhang gets a bit more than he bargained for, but learns something in return.

Zhang’s defenses were high, even though he made himself look vulnerable. He eyed his surroundings, trying to figure out where she was. He just hoped she was there for friendly reasons.

“I know you’re there.”

He called out again. No answer, just more leaves rustling. A few more branches snapping. He was growing tired of this game.

“Stop hiding.” A slight growl escaped his lips. “If you want to ta—ALK OOF!”

Next thing he knew his face was in the ground and he was wheezing hard. It felt like a few hundred pounds were on him. And it felt like something in his chest cracked.

“What the hell?!” He spat out. Was she looking for a fight? He felt claws digging into his back and then something shoved into his face. A fishy. Scale-y. _Snout_.

“TYCHO!!!”

That alien lizard from early in the day. Looked like the curious beast wasn’t done with investigating Zhang. What the hell was its problem?

Zhang tried to pull himself free from Tycho’s grasp, but he didn’t have the strength. The creature had him firmly pinned down.

“GET OFF OF ME YOU LIZARD!!”

He let out a sharp hiss as Tycho’s claws continued to dig into his back. So far, it looked as though the creature wasn’t trying to maul him, but he needed to get it off of his back. He wheezed again. He wasn’t sure how long his chest would hold out.

“ _Think. Think._ ” What to do? What to do?

“Only option.” His eyes started to glow. Purple and gold energy swirled around them. “Just hope I don’t overdo it.”

Just as he was concentrating to release a blast of energy, the heavyweight of of Tycho suddenly disappeared. He could breathe once more. The creature let out a yelped hiss.

“What the?” Though curious, he was thankful he could breathe again. It didn’t feel like Tycho had been knocked off, but felt as though he had been lifted up. Then a familiar sound tickled his ear. Hissing and chittering. Had to be Jackal.

Zhang took the opportunity to pull himself away and get in several deep breathes.

“ACK!” He gagged. Curling onto himself for a moment. That pounce definitely cracked a rib or two. He slowed down his breathing. “ _Wonder how Helios will fix that.”_

He shakily got to his feet and knocked the dirt off of him. “Glad this area isn’t muddy.” He grumbled.

“Thank you for the assistance—”

As he turned to thank her, he wasn’t expecting the sight. He had to keep himself from gasping. Keep himself from making any movements. Every part of him being was either telling him to stay perfectly still or run. Something wasn’t right.

“Jackal…”Hesitantly, he finished his sentence.

Standing mere feet before him was Jackal, heavily cloaked in that black smoke. Piercing white eyes. One hand effortlessly holding up a squirming Tycho by his neck. The lizard hissed and whined, smacking its tail against her, but it never snapped at her with its teeth. But something was different about Jackal.

“ _Was she always this… tall?_ ” Zhang thought. She looked rather… monstrous.

He had faint memories of her breaking him free from his imprisonment. She seemed to have been the same height as him. But now, she was a few heads taller than him. Thinking for a moment, this was the first time he had gotten a good look of her up close. The smoke obscured most her form but he could make out a faint human silhouette.

Something about that gaseous smoke of her’s reminding him of those old, squid-like robots the aliens fielded in the old war. Seemed to be originating from those arms from her’s with a sickening hiss. Still, she looked mostly human, but taller and seemed to be a bit thinner.

His nose twitched. A sharp metallic smell was in the air. Was that blood he was smelling? Then his eyes caught something hit the grass. Did some just drip off of her?

He mumbled and shook his head. He had to be seeing things.

“Unquestionably, they tweaked her DNA.” He had that gut feeling.

Hearing a growl made him stiffen. A deep throaty growl. It was coming from Jackal. Her grip on Tycho was tightening and the poor beast was squeaking. He could have sworn he saw a maw on her for a moment. The glisten of pearl white canines ready to nap.

Another short growl, Jackal flung Tycho towards the tree line. Zhang barely had a second to react and move back.

The poor creature bounced off a thick trunk, tumbling to the ground. It took a moment to get back up, it looked at the two of them. A mixture of a hissing and whimpering noise came from its maw.

Before Zhang knew it, Jackal let out a snarl of a howl. He stiffened, too afraid to look at her. It sounded both human and animalistic. Both angry and anguished. What the hell did they do to her?

On queue, Tycho tucked its tail between its legs and left. Disappearing into the forest.

Zhang almost felt sorry for the poor thing. _Almost_.

Feeling his senses screaming at him again, he turned back to face Jackal. White eyes focused on him. Watching him intently.

He quickly raised his hands. “I’m not looking for trouble.” He was regretting calling her out. “But thank you for prying that lizard off of me.” He thanked her again. But still no response.

“Hm.” He mumbled. Watching her carefully. “I guess you’re not one for small talk…”

Still no response.

“Guess I’ll be going.” Feeling like he was getting nowhere, and every part of him was telling him to leave, Zhang turned his back to her and started heading for the tree line. Well, first he stopped to pick up his old pants. It was stained with blood, and who knows what else, but possibly they could be washed and reused.

As he was kneeling down, he heard a deep growl. The hairs on his neck raised. “Don’t tell me…” He cautiously looked over his shoulder. It was Jackal. On all fours and coming towards him. _Stalking_.

“ _Hell_.” He mumbled. She looked like a tiger ready to pounce. That frightened him. He slowly got up, dropping the pants, cautiously turning around to face her. She was still stalking. He backed away.

“I’m not looking for any trouble, Jackal.”He hoped there was something still human within her to reason with.

Still no response

“Shit.” He cursed under his breath. He never liked feeling like a cornered rat. He wasn’t sure of what he could do. He felt like one wrong move and she would be on him within seconds. “ _What to do? What to do?_ ” He thought.He knew he couldn’t fight her. He was in no condition too, and he couldn’t rely on his psionics. Far too dangerous for him to use them with how they were.

“Ah!” He hissed when he felt something solid jab into his back and bump his head. Then he noticed he wasn’t exactly going anywhere anymore. A quick glance behind him and he saw he had backed up into a tree. _Great_. He glanced back, Jackal was still coming. No change in her speed. Slow and methodical. Truly like an animal waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

“ _Maybe a quick burst of energy to distract her?_ ” But he was tempted to use just a portion of the power. He hoped there would be no consequences.

He steadied his breathing and concentrated. The familiar psionic energy started to seep from him. Then he noticed something odd. Jackal had stopped in her tracks. They was still some distance between the two.

“Weary now?” He commented. “I rather not attack you after you so kindly helped me.”

Still no response. He was growing to hate that. It made him anxious. What was going on in that head of hers?

“Can you hear us?” A small voice greeted his ear. And so did insect-like chittering.

“What?” Zhang turned his head in the direction he thought he heard the voice. Nothing but open air and fallen leaves passing by. He didn’t like that.

“Can you hear us?” He heard it again, but again saw nothing. But that chittering was louder. So annoying.

“Oh, great…” He wondered if his psionics were acting up in another way. But he didn’t hear it in his _mind_. He could tell that for sure.

Turning his attention back to more pressing matters, he nearly felt his heart jump out of his chest. Jackal had closed the gap. They were mere feet apart. Her robotic fingers, if not _claws_ , were tearing into the dirt. She looked as though she was ready to pounce on him.

His psionic energy spiked in response. His eyes glowing fiercely as he clenched his fists. “Jackal I don’t want to f—”

He stopped. He noticed something strange. The air in front of him was… pulsating. Like water drops hitting water. Something about it was familiar.

“Wait…” He muttered. He wasn’t sure why, but he reached out to touch it. Cautiously, of course. A moment later, his hands brushed against something. Warm metallic, yet soft. “The hell!?” He quickly drew his hand back as he watched the very air ripple from his touch. That chitter grew even more.

“Can you hear us, human? See us?” That soft voice greeted his ear again. But there was more of them. A chorus.

Then it clicked. He remembered seeing something like this happening a few days ago. When ADVENT nearly had them. “That Shroud?” He felt crazy for even asking. Like that cloak Jackal used to hide the group was sentient being.

Yet he couldn’t be more wrong.

Zhang’s eyes widened. He held back a gasp. Before his eyes, the invisible force revealed itself to him. A sea of colors, a sea of scales, was before him. Red, blue, green, orange, yellow. Any color you could think of was swirling around him and Jackal. Fluttering and shifting. What was it?

“What the?” He couldn’t believe his eyes. It was a mesmerizing sight.

He wasn’t sure why, but he outstretched his arms towards the sea of colors, completely forgetting about Jackal. As he stretched out his arms, part of the sea came to him. That very sea touched him. Landing on his arms. Warm, metallic, yet soft. Such a strange feeling. His eyes focused on the ones that landed on his arms. He got a better look.

“Strange.”They looked like butterflies and moths. _Insects_. Though at a micro size. He could tell something about them was alien.

“Can you hear us, human?” The chorus asked again.

So this was the source of the voices. He couldn’t believe it. At least he knew it wasn’t his psionics messing with his mind. He wasn’t going _mad_.

He brought a hand towards his face. Getting a better look at them. Such small things.

“Yes. I can.” He answered them. The sea of colors all turned a bright cyan for a moment. The chittering grew as a few more of the insects landed on him.

“Help her.” They spoke again.

“What?” He question.

“Help _her_!” A few of them on him turned yellow and blue and fluttered off. Then a wave of them swirled around him, nearly blinding him, before moving away. Heading over to Jackal.

He had forgotten about Jackal. She was still there, still crouched. Claws still tearing into the earth. That still made him uneasy. Yet he found himself moving towards her. Something about the wave of insects beckoned him to move closer.

“ _Help her!_ ” They repeated. They sounded so concerned. So afraid.

“Why?” He stopped when he noticed Jackal move. A mere twitch.

“She’s losing herself.”

“Losing… herself?” What did they mean?

“Losing herself!” They repeated. Almost frantically. “Listen! Can’t you hear it? The agony? Peer into her!”

“Alright, alright!” He snapped at them, causing those resting on him to fly off. “Calm down!”

He let out a disgruntled sigh. One hand covered his face as he shook his head. “Maybe I am going mad?” He mused for a moment. But the sensation of that warm yet soft metallic touching his head and arms again told him otherwise. “What is my life becoming?”

He wasn’t sure why, but he listened to the insects. He cautiously approached Jackal again. Hands raised. Pausing when ever she twitched. Those white eyes of her tracked him.

“I’m not here to hurt you.” He told her. Though his glowing eyes could have said otherwise.“Your… friends… say you need help?”

Still no response.

Zhang let out a grumble.How to help someone that didn’t talk?

“Help her!” The chorus spoke up.

“Trying!” He growled at them. His energy spiking for a moment due to irritation. He let out a sharp sigh. “Calm down…” He mumbled to himself. Didn’t need for his psionics to spiral. He was glad Jackal didn’t react to that. She was rather still.

A few more steps and he was mere inches from her. Still no response, just a bit of twitching. White eyes still piercing as ever. He had to take a moment to calm himself down. His heart was still racing.

He cautiously kneeled down to be at eye level with her. That smoke was thick as ever. He wished he could see past it. What was her face? What was she thinking? His ears twitched. Something was dripping. Something hitting the grass. He looked down. There was a small puddle of blood forming beneath Jackal.

“What the…” Something wasn’t right.

“Peer into her!”

“Quiet!” He snapped at them. Another sharp sigh. At least Jackal didn’t move. “About as annoying as those Elders.” On queue the sea of scales turned red. The chittering intensified. “Apologies.” His tone somewhat sarcastic.

He took a moment to study her. Her lack of reaction. Her lack of movement. What to do?

“Hm.” He scratched his chin. He thought of what the insects said. _Peer into her_. He sighed and shook his head. “Hopefully this isn’t a mistake.” He mumbled under his breath. Perhaps just a tiny usage of his powers wouldn’t hurt? A quick should be fine right?

He carefully raised his hands towards her head. Wisps of his psionic energy coiled down his arms. A flinch of moment. Jackal drew back. He stopped. “I’m not going to hurt you, but this may sting a little.”

“He’s trying to help.” The chorus added. Finally, they were being helpful.

Jackal stayed still.

He started moving again.

His fingers passed through the smoke. He grimaced, it was cold. Felt like it was sucking the very heat from his fingers. Definitely reminding him of the Seeker’s smoke. Unpleasant choking robotic pests.

Yet his fingers found something warm underneath. Her face.

“There’s blood here.” He recognized another warm, sticky sensation. “Are you hurt?”

Still no response. He let out a sigh.

“This may sting.”

Zhang let out a heavy breath as he closed his eyes. It had been awhile since he had done something like this. Delve into someone’s mind in a non-invasive manner. He had to be delicate. Which was asking a lot since he was unsure with his changing abilities. He had to take it slow.

Another heavy sigh before he concentrated. Those coils of energy slowly wrapping about Jackal’s head as well as streams of energy flowing from Zhang. Nothing but the chittering sea of insects and that hissing from her arms filled the air. Just perfect.

“Hm.” He muttered. So far he picking up nothing. No surface thoughts or emotions.

“Have to delve deeper.” A little bit more concentration. The streams of energy intensified.

“Hm.” He felt something. A tug or two. Then a voice. More or so a whisper. What was it? He concentrated more.

His eyes scrunched up. “Ah…” He expected a tad bit of strain. A little feedback.

As he delve deeper, that voice grew. He felt the tug again, a bit more forceful than the last. He felt something was coming to the surface. Anguish and rage. So much _rage_.

“What the!?” Another tug before it suddenly pushed back. He felt something snap. A jolt of electricity. His eyes flew open as the connection was cut. Before he knew it, his psionic energy came back at him, wracking his body in pain.

“Argh!” He cried out as he was thrown back.

Mental blocks. She had mental blocks. Strong ones at that.

“Ah…” He hissed as he slowly picked himself up. Every muscle in his body was twitching. The world was spinning. It had been ages since he experienced something like that. As the world spinning slowly subsided, he eyed Jackal. She hadn’t moved a bit. He was thankful for that. Then he noticed a sea of scales flutter over to him. Their colors changing rapidly.

“Are you okaym human?” A stream of insects fluttered over to him. A few landing on him.

“I’m… alright.” Zhang grunted. Rubbing his head. “Mental blocks… She has mental blocks. Rather strong ones.” He wondered why.

“Maybe we should wait fo—”

“I want to try again.” Zhang pulled himself back towards Jackal. His eyes glowing fiercely as determination grew inside of him. He wasn’t sure what was willing him to do so.

“Are you sure you wish to do that human?”

“Yes.” He sounded determined. His fingers were already diving back into that smoke, touching her face once again. “I think felt something.”

“Be careful.”

“I’ll try.”

Knowing what to expect this time, he prepared himself. He closed his eyes once more, quickly reestablishing the connection between the two of them once more.

“Nngh.” He grimaced. The tugging and pushback immediately kicked in. Those mental defenses were already active. “Give me a bit of leeway.” He let loose a few more streams of energy to combat it.

All concern of overdoing it with his psionics was thrown out. Something about that anguish and rage he felt concerned him. Reminded him of the howl she had let out shortly after tossing Tycho aside. He wanted to get to the bottom of it. He wanted to help. He’d deal with the consequences later.

As he dived deeper, whatever was going in that head of Jackal’s was a twisted, clouded mess. He could glean a few of her memories. Shattered, disjointed memories. All focused on this monstrous form of hers.

“Where? Where?” He said through gritted teeth. Each mental block was tougher than the last. “There.” He found what he was looking for. Just a strand of those feelings he felt earlier. He grabbed onto it.

“Argh.” It grabbed back. Biting into his mind with great ferocity. But in return he saw one of her memories more clearly.

“My god…” He gasped.

The memory was still a disjointed mess. But the pieces slowly connected together to reveal it to him. A moment, in this monstrous form of hers, where she was strung up in some lab. Various wires and devices connected to her. The scientists poking and prodding at her. Testing her. All of it was causing her great pain. The next moment she let out such a furious howl, an unlucky scientist in her reach was now in her _jaws_. The next moment a headless corpse was on the ground, wires and equipment we’re flying about. She had broken free. Claws and teeth bared, she was unleashing hell on the scientists and the security that was called in. It was a massacre. Blood bath.

He let out a pained gasp as the memory bit into bite into him again. Her fight, though valiant, was futile. With the use of some device, they managed to disable her, pin her down. Didn’t take long for a beating to commence. Torture as punishment for her disobedience.

But he could feel it all. He could feel that anguish. That rage.

“What did they _do_ to you?” He wished she would speak to him.

Sensing this memory could lead him somewhere, he dug into it, looking for connections. He held back several pained gasps as it bit back into him. The mental blocks were growing stronger again. But it also felt like they were trying to drag him in. Like she was trying to drag him in. Like a cry of help to him.

“Show me something… _anything_.”

Just as he felt like he was getting somewhere, something disturbed him.

“Hey Chilong!” A particular voice called out. A Russian one. “Everything alright over there?”

“Ack!” His concentration broken, Zhang’s psionics snapped back at him and knocked him to the ground. “Dammit.”

He heard quick shuffling and tufts of ground being torn up. Grass and dirt flew over him. As he raised himself again and his vision came too, he caught sight of Jackal leaping into the air and disappearing into the tree line. That sea of colors, quickly following after her, becoming invisible once more. Active camouflage.

“‘Ey! Chilong!” Dimitri called out again. His voice was closer.

“Dammit… was so close.” Zhang muttered as he rubbed his temples. The world was still spinning, and a drummer was going at it with his skull.

“Talk to Helios.” A soft voice grabbed his attention.

“Hm?” He was surprised to see a few of the insects were still fluttering around him.

“Talk to Helios. He can help.”

“Mm hm.” He simply nodded. He would keep that in mind.

The heavy rustling of leave and branches being broken caused the few that stuck around to quickly cloak themselves.

“Hey! Chi!”

Zhang finally turned to see who it was. “Dimitri…?” He looked oddly worse for wear. A bit frazzled, covered in dirt, scratches all over his arms and face, and that undershirt he was wearing was torn in a few places. What trouble did he get into?

Dimitri quickly headed over to him and extended a hand. “What the hell happened?” He couldn’t help but notice the grimace Zhang was wearing and the bits and pieces of dirt all over him.

Zhang grabbed his hand without hesitation and got up. “I could ask you the same thing.”

“That little lizard, Tycho.” He growled.

“Oh,” so that’s were that lizard went, “so we had a similar encounter.” He wanted to keep Jackal out of the conversation.

“That thing attacked you too?”

Zhang nodded. “Pounced on me shortly after I finished my soak.” Zhang took in a deep breath, only to double over. His arm tightly wrapped around his chest. “And perhaps… cracked a few ribs.”

“Ugh.” Dimitri shook his head. He gave Zhang a few pity pats on the shoulder. “That thing is always looking for trouble.”

“Tell me about it.”

Dimitri looked around for a moment.

“So what was that howl I heard?” That question made Zhang freeze. “Didn’t sound like that lizard. He’s more the hissy sort.”

Zhang bit his lip. He didn’t exactly want to tell him everything that had transpired. What could he withhold? “Well…”

“Well what?”

“Jackal showed up. Pried Tycho off of me.” He admitted.

“Jackal?” That surprised Dimitri. He soon mumbled. “She’s back from her scouting?”

“Yes, her.” He nodded. “She howled shortly after prying him off. Left soon after that.”

“Huh.” Dimitri rubbed his chin. “Explains why that lizard was running and crashed into me.” He soon grumbled. “Then _mauled_ me.”

“The howl seemed to put some fear into the lizard.”

“That howl scares _me_.” Dimitri let out a hearty laugh.

Zhang raised a brow, which only made Dimitri laugh some more.

“You don’t mess with her when she’s angry.” Dimitri explained. “I’ve had a few close calls.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Another thing to keep note of. But he felt like her little predatory stalking was enough to make sure he didn’t cross her. But he was curious. Dimitri had mentioned he had a few close calls with her. How well did Dimitri know Jackal? Something to keep in mind and ask at another time.

“Guess we should be heading back now, no?”

Zhang nodded. “That would be best.” He took a moment to stretch, only to freeze. “Ah…” It wasn’t his ribs. His back muscles were on fire. He quickly found himself hunching over, one hand furiously rubbing the area to try to ease the pain.

“Everything alright?” Dimitri asked, a bit puzzled.

Zhang grumbled, not exactly in the mood to answer as he tried to ease the pain. He could figure his psionics wasn’t the cause. His whole body would be aching terribly. So far it ached a little. He was still waiting for it to grow worse. This just felt like muscle strain, probably coming from his diminished state. He _was_ moving around too much and too soon. Then again, it reminded him of another pain. “Old age.” He grumbled under his breath. He hoped that one benefit from the aliens wasn’t reversing itself.

“Eh?” He barely caught what Zhang said under his breath.

Zhang turned, surprised to see Dimitri had kneeled down next to him. Hand extended to help him up. He gladly grabbed it.

“Would you believe…” Zhang paused as he grunted. Those muscles were still stiff as he got up.“I’m over _70_?” He looked at him. He wasn’t sure why he was sharing that. But there was something about the Russian. Something about him said he could trust him. Even with that cheesier grin he liked to wear.

Dimitri looked at him. Gauging him. A brow raised.

He didn’t blame him if he didn’t believe him. He didn’t look like it. And if he was, how he survived years of torture would have been impossible. But he noticed the corners of Dimitri’s mouth twitched.

Dimitri took a step back and gestured at himself. A grin slowly growing.

“Would you,” he started to laugh, “would _you_ BELIEVE, I’m over _60_?” That cheshire grin was there. He didn’t look a day over 35 minus the silver hair and stubble. Though there were some stress lines around his eyes and mouth.

Zhang studied him for a moment and shook his head. He laughed. So did Dimitri, already slinging an arm around him.

“I think I’m going to like you.” Dimitri smirked.

“Likewise.” Zhang agreed.

————

After cleaning up and retrieving things, the two started to make their way back to the campsite. The walk was rather quiet, minus the sounds of nature. Dimitri was busy fiddling with something in his hands, as always. Looked like a piece of scrap metal. Zhang on the other hand was deeply engrossed with his thoughts. He couldn’t stop thinking about his encounter with Jackal and that Shroud.

“ _Helios. Helios._ ” He thought. “ _Always comes back to that babbling medic, doesn’t it?_ ” He wondered how the scaled man would be able to help out Jackal. There was something deeply wrong with her. And also those mental blocks. Those couldn’t be natural. Had to have been put there by the aliens. But why?

“Hm.” His eyes wandered over to Dimitri. He thought of what he had said. How he had a few close calls with Jackal when she was angry. “Exactly what did that facility _do_?” He mumbled as he watched the man. Then he noticed something. “He looks no worse for ware compared to me and a few others.” He studied Dimitri closer.

A few ports on his arms, one on the back of his neck. A few scars here and there. He looked healthy. Physically fit, even. Why? One thing did catch Zhang’s eye. Dimitri’s right hand, well right arm, looked bone white compared to the rest of him. On closer examination, it almost looked like there was a tree bark texture to it.

“Hm.” Zhang had feeling they had experimented him on.

“Dimitri.” Zhang broke the silence.

“Eh?” Dimitri shot a quick glance at him.

“If you don’t mind me asking…” He paused, wondering how blunt he should be. His curiosity was getting the best of him. “I’ve noticed you don’t look like most of the others in the group, especially me.” He gestured to his diminished appearance. “You look rather healthy. Fit if I may say.”

“Ah, you noticed.” Dimitri chuckled.

He raised a brow.

“The aliens found me valuable, I guess.” He shrugged. “Figured I would make a fine war unit or something.” His eyes glimmered purple for a moment.

“War unit?”

“Ya.” Dimitri nodded. “That’s what that facility was for. Making war units and experimenting.”

“Hm.” Would explain the appearance of most of the people Zhang had seen in the group. How non-human most looked. Ty and Skiv came to mind first. And to think he hadn’t seen _everyone_ yet.

“Supposedly that hell was made in response to another project.” Dimitri continued.

“In response to another project?” That sounded strange. “As in a competitive way?”

“Ya.” Dimitri nodded. “Overheard it from the scientists.” He laughed. “Surprising what one can hear when you ‘play along’ like a good dog through all the hell.”

“Huh. Smart.” He didn’t think the Elders could be that petty with each other.

“Supposedly the Elder that ran the place was the impatient and jealous sort.” He shook his head. “Didn’t care what happened to the test subjects as long as they got their results. The bastard.”

“That sounds like them.” Zhang was all too familiar with that.

“Wonder how they’re reacting to this jailbreak.” Dimitri grinned that cheesier grin of his. “Any of those scientists and tin heads that didn’t come with us will be regretting that.”

“Some scientists joined us?”

“Yep.” He nodded. “They’ve been treating the others.”

“Huh.” That surprised Zhang. Though he started to recall something he overhead with his psionics earlier in the day. Some people talking about some of the wounded not recovering well. Must have been the scientists. He couldn’t help but sigh. He hoped they would make it.

“Though I am curious.” Dimitri was looking at him. Studying Zhang from head to toe. “Why do you look like the scraps fed to mangy dogs?” He asked. “Especially with all the _power_ you have.”

“Ah, that.” Zhang had a feeling he would ask. Couldn’t reveal too much. “I ticked off the wrong person.” It wasn’t entirely a lie.

“Really?” He asked with a raised brow. “ _Really_?”

“Yep.” Zhang simply nodded. He kept his face plain. “Ticked off the wrong person by not being ‘compliant’ and the rest,” he gestured to some scars on his arms, “is history.”

“Huh.” There was a hint of doubt in his voice. “That Elder must not care too much to let you go to waste like that.”

“I’m sure they stole my DNA with all the torture they did.” Zhang rolled his eyes.

“Right!” Dimitri gave him a heart smack to the back. “You’re a thinker I see.”

“Ack!” Zhang gagged, flinching. “Ribs!”

“Sorry!” He smiled.

With nothing else to say, silence crept in.

“War units. _War units_.” Zhang mumbled under his breath. “Explains Jackal’s appearance… and that memory I saw.” He shook his head. Thinking about the memory made his skin crawl. It disgusted him. “How she was strung up reminded me of my torture sessions. Those hooks…” Subconsciously, a hand drifted to one of his shoulders. Rubbing an old gene mod port. Damaged beyond repair. How the skin and muscle around the area was terribly mangled.

“To imagine they could have experimented on me instead of _tormenting_ me.” He wasn’t sure which one he would have preferred. Wel,l he knew one thing. He would have preferred death.

“ _War_ units.” He mumbled again. “Doesn’t explain Helios. He doesn’t look combat ready.” Helios looked rather frail to him. And then all the babbling he would do. It was like he was struggling to make coherent sentences. Zhang tapped his chin. “Then again, he told me he was a _living_ _computer_ , was once hooked up to that place. Maybe…” He started to faintly remember something.

“Was he a part of the Broker Project?” An old project he had heard of during his ADVENT days. Well, he remembered escorting some packages here and there. People in stasis pods. He never asked what or why. He knew better than to do that. But over time, he learned bits and pieces. The aliens were experimenting, looking for a way to process certain bits of tactical information and spread them across their network more efficiently. To lessen the load being put on some Asset. He always wondered what the Asset was.

“Hm.” How he had questioned to ask Helios later.

“Hell! They managed to bring back a hell of a haul.”

A voice range in Zhang’s head. He let out a hiss, feeling a headache come on. A tingle in the back of his skull. “Great.” He grumbled. His psionics were acting up again.

“Geez, how are we going to move all this stuff when we gotta go?” Another voice popped up.

“Who cares! Be happy they managed to find this stuff!”

“Hopefully they didn’t attract trouble…” How anxious they sounded.

“Ah…” Zhang hissed again. Raising a hand to his head. _“Block it out_.” He was trying his best.

“Skiv still pissy?” Another voice popped up.

But it wasn’t working.

“Yeah,” another voice chuckled, “even more so after her little fight with Flint and getting that brain of hers shut down. _Again._ ”

“Crazy. Just crazy.”

Zhang grumbled as more voices kept coming. He figured it was the beginning of the after affects from his psionic usage earlier. “Ugh, this is going to be tiresome.”

“Ji-hao? Is that what Skiv called him?” Another voice. One that nearly made him stop in his tracks.

“Zhao Jihao, I think.” Another answered.

“Think what she said is true?”

“Not really. But he’s got crazy powerful psionics.”

“Scary powerful.”

“ _Do not want to hear anymore of that._ ” With some more concentration, Zhang pushed the voices at bay. Making them become mere whispers. He could tolerate that better.

“And we’re baaaack.” Dimitri hummed. “Seems like those scouts brought back quite a prize of supplies.”

“Huh?”Distracted by the ever growing headache, Zhang hadn’t noticed they had made it back to camp. And it was buzzing. Explained the voices.

Various people moving to and fro moving supplies, various crates, and containers. Others were tearing apart some of the more fortified crates. Looks as if some were making crude armor and other sleds to transport the excess supplies. And then others were tinkering with ADVENT weapons, dismantling them for some reason. Quite a prize of supplies indeed.

He also was starting to see just how many people were there. How many still looked human. How many were now hybrids from twisted experiments? And a few he would tell were alien, but not ones he had seen in the Elders’ employ. He could see what Dimitri meant by war units. Besides the look of some of the hybrids and a few aliens, he could pick up a fair mix of humans and hybrids had psionic potential.

“Huh.” Zhang was surprised how lively the campground had become.

“Oh, ho, ho!” Dimitri twiddled his fingers. He sounded like a giddy child. “I hope they found some good metal.”

Just as Zhang was about to ask what he meant by that, a certain sight caught his eye. It was Skiv. Tied up with lots of rope and cable. That maw of hers wide open. Yet there was no hissing. Well, he assumed she was trying to hiss. Then he noticed faint glimmers of light around her. _Strings_.

“Helios.” He mumbled. That cage of silence he could make.

Yet he noticed something else about her. She looked a lot worse than he last saw her. More parts of that crystalline armor of hers was cracked and a few chunks broken off.And then her face. Her face looked contorted, smashed in. Then he noticed once more thing…

“Is… is Skiv missing an _arm_?” There was a black, jagged stump where her shoulder should have been. Black blood oozing from the wound.

“Hm?” Dimitri turned to see what he was looking at. “Huh. Flint must have done that.” Seemed he wasn’t phased by the sight. “She’ll be alright. She’s always picking fights.”

“Flint did _that_?”

“Usually the outcome of their spats.” Dimitri shrugged. “He gets a few slashes, she loses some body parts, but she always regenerates.”

“Hm.” Zhang was curious to what this Flint looked like if he was able to do that much damage to Skiv. He studied her a bit more, not too surprised she had finally noticed him. It wasn’t hard to tell she was now yelling and hissing at him, even with the sound barrier. He almost felt sorry for her. _Almost._

“So who’s this Flint?” He asked Dimitri and looked around to see if anyone stood out to him. Which was an impossible task. Several people stood out.

“Big guy, over there.” Dimitri pointed towards one of the cabins. “Can’t miss that ox.” It was a small grouping of people. Helios being one. And then one massive looking beast of a man Helios looked to be providing medical aid to.

“That’s Flint?” Dimitri wasn’t lying when he said big guy. The man was sitting, but in both girth and height he made Helios look like a twig. Helios’ heady was just past Flint’s shoulders. Zhang wondered how tall he was. “ _A better question is how we didn’t get spotted that day with all these giants_.” He thought.

He could see why Dimitri called him an ox. He sounded like one with how he snorted. He kind of looked like one from this distance. Even sitting he looked intimidating. Another person on the list not to cross.

Zhang flinched when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t worry. I think the Ox will like you.” Dimitri smiled, giving him a hearty shake.

“So you say.” He had his doubts.

“Don’t be such a down—Shit!” That smile quickly disappeared. “Clara!” Dimitri’s cheery demeanor changed to a dire one as he quickly sprinted off.

“Huh?” Zhang wondered what was wrong.

He watched Dimitri sprint off, towards Clara who was sitting on a stump and someone was trying to talk to her. Hugging herself. Rocking back and forth. She was shaking like a leaf. Zhang followed. He was curious.

“Shoo! Shoo!” Dimitri waved off the person before kneeling before Clara. He placed his hands on her shoulders. “Clara.”

The girl didn’t respond. Those cheery, emerald eyes of her were ghostly pale. She looked detached.

“Dammit! Shouldn’t have left.” Dimitri looked away, clearly pained by her appearance. “You’re going to be alright Clara.” He pulled her into a hug. “You’ll be alright.”

“Hm.” Zhang felt like he had seen that look before. Distant. A dead look in the eyes. “Burnout… she was trembling after shutting down Skiv.” He recalled that. “Must have pushed herself to hard.”

“EY! You!” A booming voice called out, pulling Zhang from his thoughts. Zhang had a feeling where it came from. He shifted his gaze. It was that ox of a man that Helios was treating. Flint. A meaty, clawed finger was pointed at him.

He looked around for a moment before looking back at Flint. “Me?” He pointed at himself.

“Ey, ya deaf? Ya _you!_ ” Flint snorted. A puff of steam exited his nostrils. He then gestured for him to come over. “C’MERE!”

Zhang shook his head, but he went over. _With haste_. Having dealt with Skiv earlier, then his weird bout with Jackal, he did not want to know how Flint would act.

As he came closer, he got a better look at Flint. The man looked like he had been spliced with a Berserker. Those newer models. Natural armored beasts of pure rage and bloodlust. Zhang wondered if he got those unsavory traits. He looked like had had the scars to prove it. Flint’s hide was riddled with deep scars and burns, parts of that natural armor he inherited from the Berserker DNA were ripped off. And then his face. Some parts of it still looked human, other parts reminded him of some of the ADVENT Hybrids variants and their head-crests. He had to admit, Flint had an impressive handlebar mustache. The ends of it were fairly long. Reminded him of catfish whiskers.

As he studied him more, he noticed the right side of Flint’s face. It looked like it had greeted a bomb. Burned and riddled with shrapnel marks, there was no longer an eye there and his floppy ear hung loosely. Then he noticed the horns. Well horn, the left one was missing, broken remnants of a base was all that was left. Zhang wondered what creature they spliced with to give him that.

Once Zhang made it over to them, he stood in front of Flint. “You wanted me?”

Flint let out a heavy snort as he eyed Zhang from head to toe. “So you’re this Chilong cat, eh?”

“Yes.” Zhang simply nodded. Though he couldn’t help but raise a brow at the accent. He sounded British, but also from one of those Islands close to United States. Such a strange combination.

Flint snorted. “Or should I call you Zhao Jihao, boy?”

Zhang grimaced at that name. Flint grinned in response; his whiskers of a mustache twitching.

“That’s w’at ‘ittle miss crystal has been calling you.” Flint picked out a shard embedded in his shoulder. “And a few others from w’at I’ve bloody heard. Though the lot of them may be paranoid.”

“Hm.” Zhang grimaced more. So there were others in the group that may know his old cover identity. He didn’t like that.

“So what should I call you?” He flung the shard at Zhang. “What should I call you, _boyo_?” Now a hint of Irish poked through in that accent.

Zhang flinched as the shard bounced off his face. “ _Great_.” He thought. He had a feeling Flint was the testing type. What to say?

“Go… easy.. On… him.” Helios spoke up. He was in the middle of stitching up a long gash on Flint’s neck. “And hold… Still.”

“Ey!” He snorted. “You know how I be!” He laughed. “Ain’t no harm being done!”

“You like… to… prod.” Helios let out a sigh.

“Ain’t no harm with that!”

“Lots of harm… with you…”

“You can call me Chilong.” Zhang finally answered.

“A’right, Chilong it is.” Flint grinned.

“Or…” Zhang paused. Still thinking.

“Or?” Flint raised a brow.

“Zhang.” Part of his real name. He wasn’t surprised to see Helios stop in the middle of his work. The young man looked anxious. Mouthing words to him, _‘Are you sure?’._ He gave him a nod, something to reassure him.

“Zhang?” Flint questioned. He leaned forward, getting a closer look at him. Getting in his face. He ignored a comment from Helios on how he was messing up his work. “ _Another_ name?”

He didn’t back away. Though he wanted to. Flint’s breath smelt like something had died. “Real name.” He did his best not to gag. He felt like he should get onto Flint’s good side. Part of his real name would be a good start. How the rest would go from there, who knew.

“Real name?” Flint snorted. He studied him a bit longer, picking up no tells from Zhang. He grinned at that. He reclined back.“Huh. _Real_ name. Heh.” He chuckled. “You’re going to be fun to unfold. Bloody mysterious, just like the rest of us.”

“Mm hm.” Zhang snorted, trying to get the smell out of his nose.

“So _Zhang_.” Flint snorted. “Helios informed me of your ‘ittle squabble with Skiv.” He started picking at his teeth with his clawed finger. “Though,” he glanced at Helios, not too surprised to see the scaled man avoid eye contact, “he’s been tight lipped on whether what she said has got any _meat_.”

“It may.” Zhang plainly said.

“It may?” Flint raised a brow.

“It may not.” He made a so-so gesture with his hand.

“Oh, _cheeky_.” Flint snorted and grinned. He grabbed a nearby rock and raised it up. “Am I going to have to _squeeze_ the truth out of ya?” He slowly started to squeeze the rock until it started to break.

“ _Flint_.” Helios sighed. A hint of irritation in his voice.

“What? I won’t _kill_ him.” There was still a grin on his face. “ _Maybe_ break a bone or two.”

“Flint!”

“I kid!” Flint waved him off. “Though if he causes any trouble.” He kept a close eye on Zhang. Not surprised by the frown. “I won’t hesitate.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Zhang said. “Don’t plan on causing any trouble if it can be helped. He grumbled.

Flint let out a hearty laugh. “Good, cause you’re staying.”

Zhang’s eyes lit up hearing that. “Staying?” So his fate had been decided. He wondered if he was hearing things.

“Ey? Ya deaf?” He cocked his head to the side, his ears flopping about. “Ya staying!” Flint made it loud and clear. “Truthfully don’t believe Skiv for a second, though you are being… _cagey_. Bloody mysterious.” He grinned. “And those psionics of yours have been pretty useful. Rather keep you around. _Boy._ ”

“Huh.” So he wasn’t hearing things. He was thankful he wasn’t going to be killed, but had mixed feelings. Sounded like Flint was a bit distrustful. And was still trying to get a rise out of him. He had to be careful.

“Just make sure you pull your weight when you’re _less_ dead.” Flint snorted. “Hope Helios and those scientists can put you back together.”

“I’ll… keep that in mind.” Zhang shook his head.

“I’m… not… a… miracle worker.” Helios pipped up.

“You bloody stitched him back together!” Flint gestured to Zhang.

“Hold… still!” Helios was growing more irritated with Flint’s constant movements. “I… may have… but it’s… a… _miracle_ … he’s even… _alive_.”

“Bloody miracle any of us are still the fuck alive.”

“Speaking of stitches.” Zhang grumbled. Hearing that word made his back hurt. Specifically, the areas Tycho landed on.

“Stitches?” Helios overheard him. “…I forgot… about the… ones… from this… morning.”

He raised his hand. “It’s fine Helios,” he grimaced when he took in a sharp breath, “have a few more areas that may need work… and perhaps some cracked ribs.

“Cracked ribs!?” Helios immediately stopped working on Flint, dropping his needle, and headed over to Zhang. “ _Cracked ribs_?” His hands were already reaching for Zhang’s chest.

“Med student really kicking in.” Flint commented.

“Another gift,” Zhang paused, gagging when Helios started examining, “from Tycho.” He wondered if he would ever get use to that.

“Again!?” He let out an exasperated sigh. “Why…? Why…?”

“No idea.” He hissed.

“Definitely…. something is… cracked… dear… oh dear.” Helios murmured.

“Sounds like Tycho has taken an interest to you.” Flint chuckled.

“I wish he hadn’t.” Zhang grumbled.

“Wondering if he’s figuring out if your friend or _prey_.” He had a devious grin.

“ _Flint_.” Another terse response from Helios.

“Kidding… to a point. That thing has a mind of his own compared to his siblings.”

“Siblings?” Zhang’s brow twitched. There were more of those lizards?

“ _Oh_.” His moustache twitched. That grin grew. “You will _love_ the rest of those lizards when Ossi catches up to us.”

“I doubt that.” He hoped Flint was just pulling his leg. More testing.

“Ahh…” Zhang hissed. Not from Helios’ prodding. He felt a pain resonate through his body. All his muscles twitching. All of them becoming achy. Then a throbbing sensation started in the back of his skull. The voices were coming back in full force. He slowly started to go limp.

“Zhang?” Helios was concerned. He noticed his eyes were glowing. “What’s… wrong?” He did his best to support him.

“Ah… get me to a cot.” He hissed again as he tried to move. All his limbs felt heavy. “Overdid it with my psionics.” His antics had finally caught up with him.

“From… earlier? With Skiv?” Helios helped him along.

“Yes, and no.” He shook his head. “I’ll explain…deals with…aaah… Jackal.” That headache grew. The world was starting to spin. Darkness encroached from the edges.

“Jackal?” Helios’ eyes lit up.

“Explain…When… I… wake..up.” And like that he went fully limp in Helios’ arms, nearly dragging the poor man down. He was out.

“Zhang!”

“Ey! You lot!” Flint’s voice boomed. “C’MERE AND HELP HELIOS OUT!”

With Flint’s _finesse_ , Helios got some people to help him and carry Zhang inside and back to the cot. He was surprised if psionics were truly the cause for such his sudden ailment. Then again, he knew Zhang’s psionics were changing and his body was very weak. Once they got Zhang to a cot, Helios was already at work prying off his shirt and examining his wounds. Flint’s treatment could wait. The others brought medical supplies in for him.

He was surprised by the damage Tycho had caused. Various stitches pulled, wounds reopened, and many claw marks and bruises. And then those cracked ribs.

“Hope the… new… meds… allow that to heal… quickly.” He mumbled. He was curious about why Tycho had taken such an interest in Zhang.

Methodically, he disinfected the wounds and redid stitches. He would have to figure out how to treat the cracked ribs.

“Wonder what… you wish to tell me… when you… awaken.” He was more interested in that. “Something about… Jackal?” He remembered Zhang saying her name.

“Did you two… meet?”


End file.
